


Maman

by bigOwlEngery (Hecatetheviolet)



Series: Inversion [2]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul: Re - Fandom
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Ambiguity, Aogiri no Ki | Aogiri Tree (Tokyo Ghoul), Black Goat as Aogiri, Black Reaper Kaneki Ken, Body Worship, Breeding, Caretaking, Cultural Differences, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Female Alpha, Het Mpreg, Hybrids, Impregnation, Manipulative Relationship, Mating Bites, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Mind Games, Mpreg, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Porn With Plot, Power Dynamics, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Unhealthy Relationships, Weight Gain, Wet & Messy, alpha!eto, omega!kaneki, on both ends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2019-06-05 22:37:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15180872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hecatetheviolet/pseuds/bigOwlEngery
Summary: Yoshimura Eto is Takatsuki Sen is a ghoul is a human is an author is an alpha. She once defined herself in her novels, but now her chosen protagonist has entered the stage. An empty throne, a slew of tangled narratives, and a hybrid legacy are on the line - and the conclusion was foreshadowed decades in the past.The One Eyed King will be a child with too much power.[Updates applied to end of chapter 5 in sections]





	1. OM:inous Skies

Kamishiro Rize had been born and bred to be a highly fertile omega, so it was no surprise that the one who bore her kakuhou would be the same.

 

To Eto it had still been - well, _a wrench in her plans_ wasn't the phrase. It was more of a brief annoyance. Kaneki Ken had been weak. Kaneki Ken had been reforged, and then Kaneki Ken had died. Eto had never gotten the chance to see that particular bud blossom. A shame, but he hadn't been much, back then.

 

 _Kaneki Haise_ was a different creature entirely. _Trust Kishou to have superb gardening skills._

 

It wasn't the same as when they first met. The fearful little one eye who had stood bloodied and naive before her at a dirty little hideout in her early days was long gone. Back then, his scent hadn't settled and he'd mostly just smelled like a human who'd been claimed by Rize - that, and fear.

 

Now, however, oh, _now_. His scent had grown rich, melding into itself nicely as he grew into his strength - a warm, heavy scent that filled the space he was in, impossible to ignore. It danced between the most enticing meal Eto had ever smelled and the most _threatening_ fragrance of fertility spiced with the musk of a kakuja. He smelled like strength. He smelled like _power_.

 

Drenched in blood as sweet as honey and glaring into her eyes with all the defiance of personal betrayal as he spat her own venom back to her, Kaneki Ken had undeniably become attractive. He wore violence _well_. It was something she could appreciate.

 

He stood against her, injured but sure footed, shedding as much blood as he lost, and it felt like an invitation - a promise - a courting dance with no preamble - _I finally found you; don't think this is over yet._

 

His words were rare, but harsh. Cutting the air as he met her in the middle - word for word, eye for eye, blood for blood. Oh, this was something she _wanted_. Eto's heart raced with the thrill of it.

 

Eto did not often want things, but what she did want - world revolution, the end of society, to pass on the throne, _Kaneki Ken_ \- she aimed for with all her strength, all her mind.

 

So she marked him, thrust her kagune into his body and planted her mouth firmly over his blessed eye, laving the vulnerable softness there with her own scent, her own ghoulishness. If this took time, it was time she was more than willing to spend - every second spent pursuing him would be worth it, in the end. Now this - this was someone worth pursuing.

 

_"I love you!"_

 

She'd have to thank Kishou for cultivating such a wonderful treat for her. _Haise_. What a sweet name.

 

Eto laughed with delight as she fell for him, watching the sharp cut of his eyes never leave her as his first honest words to her filled the thundering sky -

 

_"I'm honored, Takatsuki Sen."_

 

* * *

 

Eto would have to be patient in this.

 

It would be a disgrace to Noro if she didn't go about things properly. They had taught her everything she needed to know, kept her alive and fed even when it seemed impossible, and what Noro had wanted more than anything was for Eto to grow up to be a proper alpha. Besides, there was a certain... _irony_ , a certain _symbolism_ , in her following traditional ghoul decorum in courting Kaneki Haise. He'd certainly appreciate such a thing once he understood it; he had an avid reader's appreciation for fine details.

 

Eto had no reason to assume that he knew anything of courting, let alone mating, but that was more than fine - she'd be happy to teach him.

 

Her windows were open to help spread her scent a bit - even though it was annoying to expose herself this way, she needed to declare this territory and stake her claim. Following proper procedure would help in the long run.

 

The violent heat of a drowning summer loomed on the horizon. Every day seemed to burn without end; every night the sky crowded with barren clouds. The stagnant breeze that filtered in did not smell like rain. Her cheap AC had already lost the struggle against it.

 

She glared at the hunk of metal and plastic from her place on her messy bed.

 

Initially, she had toyed with the idea of rearranging the order of the Gifts, but no, no, this had to be done properly. Even if watching him panic and waver  - _is this a gift? a threat? a promise?_ \- when the first thing she sent him was meat would be funny, it would be a waste. He probably wouldn't even eat it, anyway. He hadn't been raised as a ghoul, after all. That was a bit of a shame, she thought. Having been raised from birth in her world? Oh, he would have become even more amazing, even sooner.

 

A Kaneki - _a Haise? a Ken? a Kamishiro? ...a Washuu?_ \- who had been ghoul-born and raised as an omega would have _adored_ a courting gift of meat, would have eaten it with relish, would have hunted her down and mocked her for not sending enough, even if she laid a corpse at his feet in reparation -

 

Eto moaned a bit, writhing around in her blanket, palming herself as she spread her scent over the soft fabric. Only her favorite would do - old and worn and soft and so saturated with her scent that even washing it didn't ease the smell entirely - _yes_. Even if his senses were weak, he would know. He would hold it up and press it close to chase the scent before realizing that it was _her_ \- and it would be too late. It would be in his nose and in his mouth and in his lungs - Eto, inside him - _yes, yes, yes_.

 

She forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down. The first gift wasn't supposed to be _this_ strong, but Noro had always told her that strength was better than weakness. A lasting impression that induced rage would work better than a weak suspicion, with Kaneki. Later, he'll probably be able to appreciate the logic behind it.

 

Besides, it wasn't exactly the first thing Eto had given him. How was he enjoying having a part of her inside him? He must already have her scent on him, embedded in his body, molded into part of his flesh...

 

Eto sat up, still wrapped in the blanket, and nearly upended her laptop from the other side of the bed in the process. A crushed can of tea clattered to the floor, landing in a pile of other trash. This was more than strong enough; there were lines here, somewhere. She unwound herself and moved her laptop to a safer location, then brushed off her bed.

 

Laying out the blanket neatly, Eto picked a few long hairs off, then folded it into a neat square. She unfolded it several times until it fit perfectly in the box she had picked out. The presentation couldn't be less than perfect - he needed to bring it into his home willingly; she couldn't place it there or force him to accept it. Well, she _could_ , but that wouldn't be the same.

 

This gift was meant to declare her intentions in courting an omega; although she'd assumed that it would be best to choose her personal blanket, she'd still trashed her room emptying the closet and tossing her bedding around. His senses were human-weak, yes, but it still felt inappropriate to just buy something new or give him a lesser covering. _Lesser!_ What a quaint thought. She wanted Kaneki to feel her personal attention in this gift and understand that it was not a threat in and of itself. Oh, but she was thrilled by the doubt he'd have, by the initial flush of rage he'd direct toward her.

 

This was a long game, and Eto wanted to watch him accept her courtship - even if he didn't know what it was at first. She wanted to watch him struggle. She wanted to pursue him. She wanted him to come to her with that same promise of violence lighting up his eyes, bright as the moon behind a thin veil of storm clouds.

 

Eto had the wonderful feeling that he would return her courtship, even if only because he thought he could use it against her somehow; just the thought of him returning her interest, returning her invitation to this delightful game, joining her, matching with her, playing with her - _oh_.

 

This was something she'd never realized she wanted this badly.

 

* * *

 

Eto stood before her book collection, her hair bundled on top of her head, stark naked in the boiling night. Even underwear made her feel like she was melting. She'd become used to her windows being open, but the heat was entirely too much that day, and as a result she felt distinctly stuffy and humid. There wasn't anything to be done about it, not until her AC was repaired.

 

Technically, Eto should wait until he gives a sign of acceptance to send another Gift. However, the circumstances were different in that Kaneki most certainly would not know how to do so - and she won't pretend that he'd even want to, if he knew.

 

That's the most enticing part of this little game. _It's so exciting!_ Will he accept her without knowing and be swept away by her in his heat, leading to a glorious power struggle? Will he deny her, try to kill her, turn to Kishou out of spite? What would make him accept her as his mate? What would she have to do, how many wards could she waste and lay at his feet to get his attention? How many would it take for him to hate her? How hard would it be to walk the line between tripping him into attraction and enticing him to kill her?

 

Those were important matters that could be be tabled for the time being. The immediate question would be _what to do to seduce his human side?_ She can't court Kaneki Ken the ghoul and neglect Sasaki Haise the human; as a fellow hybrid and as a mate candidate that would be nothing short of an insult. Both sides of his complex being must be acknowledged and flattered. She didn't want one side _or_ the other, after all. Eto would only settle for both, if she were to have him. She was confident that she would, if she worked patiently for it. She was fairly certain that she wanted him, after all.

 

Eto turned a thin book over in her hands, considering. Would it be too heavy handed to begin sending him poetry? Her personal copy of Akiko Yusano poems would more than likely be too much too soon. The advanced copies of new books that she received from desperate authors looking for her advice and approval would be far more appropriate - the Kaneki she'd met briefly so long ago had loved her work, and Kishou had mentioned that Haise was a voracious reader. These were books that weren't slated for publication for at least a year, and contained her own observations and ideas in her own writing. It was personal enough to be precious, yet distant enough to remain subtle. Eto wanted him on edge, certain they were from her but unsure of her intentions, confused by the possible goal. Unless someone had taken it upon themselves to inform him of the nuances of ghoul culture over the years - which Eto sincerely doubted - he would have no idea what any of this could possibly mean.

 

But the gifts would certainly work to soften him towards her. They were nonthreatening, harmless little things meant to be enjoyed. Kaneki would be getting more out of this than she was, to start with. She would have to be on the lookout for an attempted response on his part while he processed her intentions.

 

Perhaps he wouldn't even read the courting as a romantic overture, not yet. None of the books were even written by ghouls - which was deplorable, what happened to the little upstart in the 16th Ward? - and the subject matter ranged from classic horror to light, poetic surrealism; no romances crowded her shelves. Eto was at least certain in that he'd enjoy these gifts, and the special treat of advanced copies with notations would surely pique his interest.

 

And she had years worth of them, so thinning out her wall to wall book case wouldn't be any trouble. It was inevitable that her human life was drawing to a close, so it didn't bother her to give them away, either. Better that they serve one final purpose than collect dust in the CCG evidence locker.

 

Should there be any order to them? Should she spell something out with the first words in each - or begin to spell something and then throw in random ones, just to rile him up a bit? Kaneki would most certainly be searching for meaning in them; it would be better to string him along with no meaning, get him frustrated enough to act on his own.

 

Now, one book a week sounded reasonable...

 

* * *

 

Eto trembled where she sat, clutching her cup with hands that were poised to shatter steel, when Kaneki Haise walked by _wearing her scent_. The cup successfully returned to the plate without damage, even though she nearly choked on her own breath trying to breathe as deeply as she could.

 

He did not come inside the coffee shop Eto had been loitering in, and the angle of the massive fan in the window prevented her from getting a visual on him, but -

 

Oh, _fuck_ , that was even better than she'd dreamed it could be. The cool air hit her face every time the fan turned her way, and now it pressed his scent into her nose, keeping it in the poorly circulated air for longer than it should linger. Eto, thoroughly chilled despite the sharp flash of heat, shivered against it.

 

Was it a warning - _I know what you're doing and I will find you first_? Was it a promise - _If you can entice me enough_? Was it - _oh_ \- was it acceptance - _I want to carry your scent_? _I want to mark you as you have marked me, I want you to be mine, I want to be courted by you? I want to mate with you, carry your mark, your love, your children -  
_

 

It was more than a little shocking - she hadn't truly _meant_ this until now. Courting him had been something of a game to her - a taunt from a rouge kakuja to a dove, a statement of interest from one powerful ghoul to another, an open ended question to punctuate the chaotic existence of hybrids - a test for the one chosen for the throne by the heralds of the future - a prologue from an author to a beloved main character - but that - that _scent_ was -

 

Kamishiro Rize had been born of the Sunlit Garden; the potent combination of Washuu blood, careful breeding selection, and fertility enhancement through gene selection had produced an absolute monster of an omega. Eto had never once managed to meet Rize when she was in her prime, but even being in the same ward as her had left its effect on nearby ghouls. Weak alpha simpered and fought over territory in her name; omega and epsilon postured and opposed her presence while the other weaker ghouls kept their heads down. _And she hadn't even been a kakuja!_ Eto had been desperate to get Rize's attention, to have Rize's power on her side. However, it had appeared that Kaneki Ken was the only conciliation prize available back then, and Eto had been left to stew in disappointment for a great ally lost.

 

Eto had not considered breeding with Rize at that time. Aogiri had been her only focus, and anything else could only have divided it. Besides, she knew Rize was a typical, gluttonous wild card omega who had just come into maturity- likely, she would have had no interest in Aogiri's motivations or any favor for a change in society. She could very well have brought Aogiri crashing down around her ankles if she broke fractions between her and Tatara. It would have been a mess.

 

But Kaneki Ken, who had been dragged into the depths of cochlea and survived, who had been chosen for the throne by Kishou, who was a kakuja with astounding control, who had eaten her kagune and only grown fiercer for it, _who was hunting her down, oh, yes, yes, yes_ \- Kaneki Haise was Kamishiro Rize taken to the farthest logical extreme.

 

He was _powerful_ , he had his own game to play against hers, and he was - he was an _omega_. As a one-eye with a throne to pass on, she wanted him by her side, if not _on_ her side - she at least wanted to impress all the wrong reasons to follow her ideals into him, or to let him reach his own conclusions for taking on the role she and Kishou set up for him - and now, _ah_. And now Eto, as an alpha, wanted that, that and _more_.

 

Being an alpha - a weak, pathetic being like her own father - had been the bane of her existence until she learned to use the perception of alphas to her advantage. Being thought of as weak, as unusually small for her gender, as naturally meek and nonaggressive - the mere _existence_ of her kakuja was such a satisfying shock to her opponents. Her strength, her power, her position - she had prevailed against everything the world had desperately set against her from the moment of her birth. Eto's power had been earned - and so had Kaneki's.

 

Just smelling that combination of their scents - that cocktail of two unique powers - she wanted - _she wanted_ \- Eto would pursue him to the ends of the earth to complete that promise. She wanted to court him _fully_ ; she would see him enthroned with her at his side, her child brewing in him. She would slaughter ghoul and human alike for him, whatever he wanted to eat - whatever he craved to nurture _her_ child in his belly - she would endure stagnant heats if he took other alphas into his nest after her, as long he wore her promise - she would guard his territory, his kingdom, with all her worth, and gladly leave herself behind in the process - she would perish in his heat, dying by his strength to nurture her own offspring as they took root - Eto was a true alpha, through and through, and she understood her own kind with perfect clarity in that moment.

 

This wild obsession - she really would do _anything_ to gain his favor.

 

Eto leaned back slowly, making sure she wasn't obviously chasing something out the window, and absently smoothed her fingertips over the cover of the book she was holding. It was closed now, and she barely remembered if she'd even been reading it. With a preposterous title like _Death in Love_ , there was little incentive to find interest in it. She'd just been using it as a buffer to observe the people around her.

 

The large, open cafe was relaxed and calm - every patron was human, and they had no fear of her. The waiters loitered busily behind the counter and an old woman sat reading one of Eto's early works in the corner. A man who smelled like blood watched the door from the far wall, his leg shaking the table. A pair of teenagers on a date did not look at one another. A family of three waited peacefully at the table furthest from hers. Eto had no way to gauge the ages of children, but it seemed a rather verbose little thing, for its size. It made joyful noises as its father wiped at its messy mouth, its mother laughing at his attempts.

 

She had always thought them weak - bonds of love and heat and familial ties. She had been taught as much by her own parents, after all. Even Noro had left her, though they hadn't planned or wanted to. Life for a ghoul was a series of cruelties that ended in tragedy; she had made her wealth as a human cementing that truth in leather binding.

 

 _Takatsuki Sen_ was an author of tragedies: _Yoshimura_ _Eto_ had the power within herself to write a romance instead. Why not add a romance angle? Heighten the tension in the action, bring an extra thrill to the climax, an extra depth of resolution to the finale -

 

The precious throne she guarded with her life - rather than abandoning it once filled or dying for its cause - Eto would remain by his side. She would see her child made heir to a throne that it's mother knew nothing of yet. She would spite her weak father and this weakening world by being a true alpha, by being strong, by changing the world to fit her child - a mate, a child -

 

 _Her_ child would be spoiled from the womb. It would have parents strong enough to guard it, to treasure it, and it would have a place of power in a world under their thrones.

 

Yes, that was the parallel she wanted to have. Success where the past had only bloomed failure.

 

Eto took in one last, deep breath before his - _their_ \- scent faded away in the summer heat, calming herself. One whiff and she was aroused like this? Really? What was she, a teenager? To be fair, she had never had so much fun in her teenage years, hadn't been so completely enamored by omegan power in her youth - she's a bit glad she didn't start chasing someone back then - sure Tatara had been around and more than available, _but_.

 

A fellow hybrid, a monster, a powerful kakuja, a vengeful _wrath_ of a person - _this_ was the one she wanted.

 

She got up on slightly shaky legs to get the second Gift.

 

* * *

 

The second was one that she wasn't able to tell if he'd taken it in as readily. She hoped he like it - an expensive dark roast like that would be a crime to waste. Kaneki Ken had worked in Antique for a time - if he didn't have a disconcerting eye for coffee she'd be disappointed in what little her father may have once gotten right.

 

Since she couldn't wait for a sign of acceptance, she would have to improvise. It was three weeks between the Gifting and when she scented him, so this time... perhaps two? Encourage an earlier and earlier acceptance? Or string him along for a bit and wait a month instead?

 

Rize hadn't been out of the garden long enough for anyone to get an idea of her heat schedule, and there was no guarantee that Kaneki's would be the same, anyway. Not after so many years and so many modifications to his body. If he'd had any as Haise, Kishou would have hidden it somehow. The garden was greedy, and more than willing to replace missing blood. If Eto waited too long on principle, she might very well miss her only chance for _months_.

 

Although, there was a certain charm to an extended courtship, as well. Perhaps if he accepted her months before his heat instead of on the cusp of it, she could ensure they bonded more deeply beforehand and then have him even closer afterword. A heat-bond that resulted in pregnancy was the strongest type, yes, but she honestly respected him enough to consider convincing him slowly first, though most omegas didn't bother with such things as an alpha's consent, if the alpha survived the courting. But with that came the possible threat of rejection... although, Eto felt a confidence that even she wasn't sure was not misplaced. He would accept her. She just felt it, with her bones, her humming kakuhou, her pounding heart, her encroaching plotlines.

 

There was still the matter of his pursuit of her as an investigator. While annoying, it could become either useful or outright obnoxious depending on her own response. Perhaps earlier would be better, after all. Two and a half weeks. That sounded right. A noticeable decrease, but not yet a threatening one.

 

It would be the wrong play to truly make him feel personally threatened by her. Surrounded by doves, kept within a birdcage, trapped with no hope for life beyond the CCG - Kaneki Ken most likely intended to die soon. He wouldn't go out quietly, however. He wanted attention; he wanted to be loved. And so he would die for the sake of another. Maybe that silly :RE he loved so much and which Eto had dutifully left alone for him. Maybe for the chimera brat Haise had captured out of pity. Very likely, he intended to die by Arima's hand after a great battle and maybe some dramatic emotional revelations. Or something. He was such a _protagonist_ sometimes, really. The perfect textbook tragedy. it would be far, far too much of a waste to allow, both for Kishou and herself, for ghouls and humans, for the shitty world they lived in.

 

But the facts of his being remained true; Kaneki Ken, on the most fundamental level, wanted to be loved. If Eto courted him carefully, structured her interest _just right_ , he would fall right into her waiting arms of his own accord. There wasn't a force of ignorance in this world that help him read a heat as love, though. Omega got far too violent, far too dangerous, for there to be the pretense of any intentions beyond surviving his heat alongside him. She was confident in her strength, but whatever strength Kaneki may have shown her on that night would be amplified three times over - and there would be no idle chitchat. It would be a deadly game; Eto needed to be patient and strike only when the time was best for her own intentions.

 

To have to wait so long, be so patient, when what she wanted was _right there_ -

 

Ah, but Eto was nothing if not patient. She had spent her whole life in waiting, she could bear it a little longer, since it was for such a wonderful cause.

 

This Gift would be even more personal, and naturally more of a risk. But where would the fun be if it wasn't in the threat of total annihilation? Honestly, the fact that he was a threat to her at all - with the mass of her kakuja and the whole of Aogiri behind her, with every trick in the book memorized - it was such a thrill! What a catch, honestly. She'd been lucky to find such a bright gem; she had to act carefully not to squander her potential riches, here.

 

Eto shivered, nearly tearing the sweater she was holding as she stood before her closet, trying to choose what to send him. Most of her clothes were strewn about the room, having been rejected as either _too small_ or _not good enough_. He was already taller than her, and it needed to be big enough to fit him comfortably when his belly grew. This was the Promise-Gift, which would also likely go misunderstood, but the principle of the thing still mattered and she could always explain later. Also, it would still be cute no matter what, so.

 

There were three sweaters remaining in her closet, and any one of them would do, but it needed to be the perfect choice.

 

"I guess I understand it, but maybe you should pick up the trash, too? If you want your boyfriend to come over, it's better to not look like -"

 

"How about this?"

 

She held up a plain green cardigan and a brightly patterned, oversized turtleneck, interrupting her editor's nitpicking. One's a bit boring for her taste, but Kaneki seems to like dark colors and plain fabrics. The pictures she has of Haise are the opposite - all bright color blocks and patterns and other things she could have easily gifted him from her closet, _but_. It is and it _isn't_ Haise who she wants to court - which one should she choose? Remind him of the fresh past that's obviously haunting his every waking moment, or appeal to his current state of mind?

 

Personally, she likes _this_ Kaneki the best, she just can't decide if she wants to torment him more or not.

 

It wasn't exactly the weather for sweaters, but his heat would have him craving warmth, and this was only an excuse to get her scent on him, anyway. She assumed that he wouldn't be comfortable with ropes of her hair, like Noro used to wax romantic about. That was old fashioned, anyway. Eto had always thought that couples clothing was cute, too.

 

Shiono sighed, looking incredibly put-upon as he teetered on the edge of her doorstep, refusing to step in her mess.

 

"The green if you want him to like you, the other one if you want to warn him away."

 

Eto pouted at him, but conceded.

 

* * *

 

It was already three in the morning when Eto finally made it to his doorstep to drop off her Gift. Shiono had no appreciation for ritual and no empathy for her fuzzy headed courting-high and had kept her busy with tiny editing decisions long into the night. _Again_.

 

She usually used her enhanced speed to drop off the gifts and fall back before he had a chance of noticing her, but today there was - a distraction.

 

His apartment lights were on, and there was a box on the doorstep.

 

It didn't look familiar; it wasn't one of hers being rejected, which was good, a good sign, but. But the unfamiliar item - so _gift-like_ in size and shape - in the very heart of _her_ omega's territory - filled her with an irrational rage that she had to press down from several blocks away. Oh, she would fight _someone_ tonight for this.

 

But no, _no_. The lights had never been on this late before - he usually passed out around two, two thirty at the latest and had a lamp on a timed switch that shut off after twenty minutes. The apartment was dark by three every night, save for any late night raiding that occurred. Which was always by Furuta's distant design, and tonight was not such a night. His window was the only one in the row that was on, the only light in the stifling, overcast darkness.

 

_Could this be a response?_

 

Eto's heart pounded in her chest, excitement welling up fiercely as she stared hard at the box. Would he really return her courtship? Accept her? Was this a fake out, an unrelated package, a ploy? _What were his intentions?_

 

The cement wall she had begun leaning against was crumbling under her fingers, the damage hidden on the inner lip of the highrise rooftop. Eto pulled a small chunk from the wall and pressed it slowly into powder between her palms, forcing herself to calm down and consider her own response more carefully.

 

With all the nightlife interfering, she couldn't get a read on his apartment from this distance. Was he really awake, waiting for her? Was he waiting for the ghoul who had been threatening him with strange gifts to appear, lured out into the open with bait? Or was he - _could he be_ \- _waiting for the ghoul who was courting him to receive his response?_

 

Would it be worthwhile to expose herself to him this early? Even if it were a different omega, Eto would still be concerned about being perceived as a trespasser and eaten for it. Kaneki would surely be expecting a confrontation, if nothing else. Eto had full faith that he understood it was her. If she were more sure of him responding positively to her presence, then _maybe_ she would engage him here. But if she induced a rejection at this stage, all her careful staging would be for naught...

 

As a courting alpha pursuing a powerful, violent omega, she needed to keep the ball in her court, so to speak. Showing up before even half of the Gifts had been accepted would be nothing short of suicidal in its presumptuousness. If his own instincts were strong enough, he may very well attack her without meaning to. He might attack her because he wanted to. He was too clear headed and rational right now, the inebriation and instinct of heat too far off.

 

For both their sakes, and for the success of the courting, Eto would not engage him on his terms - not yet. But even so, _if this was a response -!_

 

Eto had to take a moment to steady herself, overcome with an obnoxious amount of endorphins. There were still so many possibilities yet.

 

Taking everything into account, she set her Gift down on the roof. If this were a response, she would respond afterword; if it was nothing, she would return it alongside her own Gift. If it was the Gift of another - well!

 

She readied herself as usual, then sped through the apartment porches, snatching up the box on her way.

 

Returning to the rooftop, she observed his window, waiting. The lights remained on, and the door remained closed. A slight shadow may have wavered behind the curtain, but nothing happened to indicate an immediate response. A cool breeze sputtered passed.

 

The box in her hands smelled only of Kaneki, and was oddly light. No labels, no writing. Not from another alpha or from an outside source. Eto's heart _sang_.

 

It was only wedged shut, not taped, so she eased it open quietly. Inside -

 

Eto laughed, delighted, and ran to drop off her gift, certain of its acceptance.

 

* * *

 

After such a positive response, she made her boldest move: it was time to prove her strength. What better way than to stalk his movements - and, _fuck_ , he absolutely _reeked_ of her scent now, it was _incredible_. Did he sleep with her blanket? Did he keep it close? Was he wearing her clothes? Did he like her scent? Did he know what it was? _Did he know what it would do to him, in time?_ \- and find his target before he did?

 

The ghoul he had been tracking was fairly strong, a kokaku with a mostly complete kakuja, but the fight was underwhelming, as they all had been ever since _their_ fight. No one could ever come close to giving her that sort of ecstasy again - he'd ruined her for anyone else.

 

But how should she present it? Alongside the books she sent every three days? Would that be too much, or should it be staggered? Alpha instinct said _every day_ , but that was ludicrous - there would be no ghouls left in the ward if she caved to that ambitious goal. She didn't want to look _desperate_. Besides that, it would take Kaneki giving in to his own instincts and bingeing like he should be to support this gift. The point was to prove her dedication, her strength, and to strengthen him as well - he was far too thin, he barely looked like an omega at all. She acknowledged her hypocrisy in critiquing his nontraditional body type, however. It was natural that they should both be a little - _different_ , as they were both half human. Eto, the tiny, strong alpha, and Kaneki, the self-sacrificing, starving omega. Human society really had done a number on them both, hadn't it?

 

But still, it wouldn't be comfortable for him, that way. Heat was an intense, exhausting ordeal. Even just the three or four days of preheat could lead an omega into wiping out a block's worth of humans. Or, well, lead courting alpha into hunting as many in their name. Omega coming close to their heats were always so fat and soft, if they hadn't been already.

 

His fertile scent was one thing, but poor Haise had been starved out, likely in an attempt to curb his instincts and keep him pliable enough to be used by the CCG. Kaneki seemed the willful, soft-hearted type who would refuse to eat more than the CCG gave him out of some misguided pity to the flesh of his meals. He had been human once; surely this effected his views on eating and impacted his health greatly. Yes, he'd eat whatever he could get his teeth into in the throes of his heat, but Eto wanted to have the private, alpha's privilege of fattening him up herself first. The chances of that happening were slim, but she could at least make her intentions known and then feed him up after he conceived. Haise had been so soft on those little quinx failures, surely the threatened health of a perfect, unborn hybrid would convince him to open his mouth to whatever she pressed to his lips.

 

She carved her kill up neatly, setting the choicest cuts in the box alongside the heart and kakuhou, and spread the remains around the alley, making sure it was distinctly maimed. It was hard to suppress her kakuja for this, but she needed to leave no trace an outside eye might find. She wanted Kaneki to know, not the whole CCG. The last thing she wanted was the doves getting nervous and locking him away where she would have to break in to get at him. Enough time had passed in patience; Eto would tolerate no more delays, no interference.

 

* * *

 

 No interference meant _no interference_.

 

That little garden brat that had been dogging Kaneki recently was being a pain. Did he think Eto didn't know who he was? She'd never given a single fuck about those lackluster clowns - as long as they didn't get in her way. This one, however -

 

This one was far, far too _chatty_ for her tastes. But that blinding confidence would aid her, in the end. Forgive her, Kishou, but he had one little brother too many - _except_. There was no way the CCG wouldn't find a way to punish Kaneki for any misfortune that befell the brat.

 

Instead, she found Furuta Nimura on her own time, let him pretend to run the show for a bit, humored his childish plans for _super peace_ , until she could get what she wanted. It was a bit pathetic how clever he thought himself for every little whim of fate that had lead to his plans falling through. Eto took the safer route and relied on a classic, well known figure for public adoration and acceptance, rather than a new, uncontrollable antagonist.

 

Yes, destruction was an important facet of her plans, but allowing others to initiate it and filter her ideals through the general populace slowly - that was key. The laughter that had flown from her when he monologued about his precious dragon was unintentional. Furuta lacked education to the point of hilarity; he wanted a _dragon_ to herald the end, but his attitude betrayed that he had never read _Revelations_. The amazing irony, however, didn't slip past Eto. They both wanted to bring about the end, and were intending to provide the two components to the prophesy without meeting in the middle.

 

Well, some conflict simply couldn't be resolved. Nor did it need to be. Was Furuta worth the contest? No. Would witnessing him desperately try to corral Kaneki Ken into becoming a dragon while she attempted to impregnate him be worth the resolution? _Yes_.

 

They could work around and predict and calculate one another fairly solidly, Eto thought, but Furuta had a bit of a blind spot where Kaneki was concerned. Yes, he could be pressured into exact actions with the right stimulation, but simply asking him to after grooming him for a bit would be easier on everyone. And Eto would win no matter what the outcome on society was in the immediate future. Furuta could do whatever he wanted.

 

It was rude of him to involve poor Shiono, though. They'd made such a wreck of his neat office. She would have to retaliate.

 

She didn't want to make this personal call on the phone Shiono gave her, and so had to borrow a phone from a corpse. Contacting Kaneki directly didn't feel right, and would maybe exclude the brat she intended to drag down with her, so she put in a favor from Furuta ten minutes before her chosen time. She hung up on the sound of his screeching and began getting ready, choosing her clothes carefully.

 

The next Gift was meant to be presented in person, after all.

 

* * *

 

When they finally met, it was at a cafe.

 

A cup of coffee brewed to his taste already waited at the table where she sat. The air was blissfully cold and clean. The Washuu brat had thankfully made himself scarce.

 

 _Likely to warn the CCG._ But that was alright, she could work with time limits. Frankly, if the brat didn't have any plans of his own, she'd have killed him out of pity. And what he didn't know of her plans wouldn't - well. She'll decide that later.

 

The location was perfect - an upscale cafe run exclusively by humans with a tastefully minimal decor. Eto wanted to be the only familiar thing in the room, wanted her presence to be the only one that stood out. Wanted to prove herself peaceful - _look at all these poor little sheep I haven't killed! See how polite I'm being?_ She'd chosen a hidden booth in the back, private and walled in, to buy them a little time.

 

Kaneki entered alone, the first patron to enter the cafe since Eto. The hostess who greeted him was not a threat. He wore his black dove coat, wet from the sudden rain, but carried no briefcase. They hadn't had any weapons between them during their engagement, either. Did he believe in her peace? Have such confidence in his amazing kakuhou? Expect a very personal fight between them?

 

Eto watched his eyes flicker around the large room until he finally settled on her, then waved delicately, trying to keep her expression within a friendly range. The sound of his dark heels tapping on the wood floor were amplified by Eto's rapt attention. The privacy doors on the small room closed behind him as the hostess bowed and left them alone together.

 

Eto smiled agreeably at Kaneki's dark, gloomy expression. Ah, his glasses were so cute! Were they the pair of hers she'd sent alongside the sweater? The huge circles fit his rounded cheeks and matched his silvery eyes perfectly. Was that tender, stormy gray genetic, or a result of his hybridity, like his hair? Hopefully it would be inherited by their child. But that was a bit too strong for an opening, at least for him, so she settled with a calm greeting, inviting him to sit with her.

 

Slowly, reluctantly, Kaneki Ken sat down across from her in the private booth she'd reserved under Furuta's name and regarded her warily. He kept his coat and did not get comfortable.

 

"Takatsuki Sen," He began, then paused, seeming a bit nonplussed. She folded her hands under her chin and waited, basking in his scent as it flooded the small space. Hers had finally started to fade a bit, but hopefully after this she'd be able to keep it fresh herself and keep some of his, as well. It really had become addicting, as Noro had warned her once. Her heart rate was slowing, even as her mind continued in a frenzy.

 

"Well?" She prompted lightly, "Did you enjoy my gifts?"

 

Oh, his microexpressions were an absolute _treat_. He fiddled quietly with his hands under the table, relaxing slightly as he sighed.

 

"I... assumed they were from you, but I don't understand. Why would you...?" So polite! Poor thing just seemed so _tired_. Little Nimu must be running him ragged on top of the CCG. He most likely wouldn't consent to hiding away with her right now, but that may become a more attractive option sooner rather than later. Eto wanted him, but she also wanted him to give in to her. She would wait for that, eagerly. Even if it meant allowing Furuta to gloat a bit more.

 

She just needed to be _closer_ to him - it should only take a few days of close contact to trigger his heat.

 

"You really don't know anything about ghouls, do you? It's only a gesture of goodwill, and a proposal."

 

"A proposal?" Kaneki repeated, his dull, screaming eyes scanning her face, looking adorably uncomfortable and confused. "Seventeen corpses is...?"

 

Had it really been that many? Ah, well, he was far too thin, and by the looks of things he hadn't been eating her gifts, either. It was hard to tell past his incredibly modest coat, but it looked like his waist was still tiny. He really was intent on starving himself in restraint, wasn't he? Although her rational mind understood that perfectly, the stupid alpha-part she'd been mindlessly indulging lately stung a bit. _Was she not strong enough? Would she have to fight him to prove herself? Did she not choose her hunting correctly? It had seemed like the safest bet was keeping with strong ghouls, but perhaps she had been wrong? Maybe, when the CCG wasn't watching, he had kept his taste for human flesh..._

 

Well, during his heat it would be easy enough to get him to eat. Kaneki had such cute baby fat on his cheeks, and with how heavy his scent was it seemed like he would gain weight easily. Eto could wait.

 

"Yes, it's an archaic process, I'm afraid. I was certain to take your tastes into account. And there's only three more Gifts, you see. Would you accept this one?"

 

Telegraphing her movement, Eto pulled her hand out of her pocket, then reached halfway across the table, hand open, palm up in a careful gesture. To Kaneki's credit, he didn't so much as lean back from her, although he looked like he wanted to. He hid his expressions _so_ well, he really did, but she'd been observing him for a long while now - and she knew herself well, also.

 

Kaneki was uncomfortable with the situation because he didn't understand it. Once she explained, even if he rejected her, he'd be more comfortable with it. Right now, Yoshimura Eto - Takatsuki Sen - was a wild card: she swung into his life, mutated him, courted him with meat and gifts and pretty words, and he didn't know how to respond yet. He had been reading her notations - the _Black Goat's Egg_ bookmark he'd responded with was proof enough of that - so he should understand her perfectly, even if only subconsciously. That should have softened him up towards her a good bit, too.

 

_They were so very alike, after all._

 

"I wouldn't harm the hand I gave you," She offered, hoping he was at least a little sore about that. His lips thinned a bit, his expression somehow becoming chillier, as he finally, slowly reached back.

 

Eto smiled, honestly delighted, and took his hand gently. It was so _warm_ , the kagune-flesh scaled and firm, plush where human skin would be soft. The tiny claw tips, elegantly shaped and guarded by a thin glove, grazed her palm. Eto suppressed a shiver at the sensitive contact before meeting his eyes and carefully easing off the glove.

 

The bright, jewel-red color was lovely on him. The individual scales carried a gradient from the brightness of artificial cherries to the dark color of fresh, natural ones. _Beautiful._

 

That coat blocked her view of the rest of his arm, so she couldn't tell if he'd begun to heal fully or not. A shame. She'd been curious about that.

 

She turned her gaze back to his, making sure to capture his attention fully. Kaneki watched her back, his own eyes flickering in increasing confusion.

 

"Here," Eto offered, winking to hide her singing nerves as she slid the ring on his finger, "The human version."

 

Oh, his expression was absolutely _adorable_ , but the look on the CCG backup squad's faces when she cheekily put her hands up and surrendered when they slammed the door open was just as good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note: this is a heat fic, so the usual levels of dubious consent are applicable. The hierarchy is inverted here and the physical/sexual power is on the omega's side and the one being overpowered is enthusiastically consenting - that being said, there is still extreme doubt as to safe, sane, and consensual activity all around due to the amount of manipulation involved and the lack of information on both sides. I don't think it warrants the rape/noncon warning tag, but the fic tags do reflect this.
> 
> The other part to this fic, :RE, is the more plot heavy side from other character's points of view and includes no sexual content. If you're here for the porn, you're welcome, but if you want more drama go there.
> 
> Visit my tumblr @bigowlenergy if you want more worldbuilding notes or release updates.


	2. Lie of OM:ission

Takatsuki Sen was allowed to make a call to Shiono, to politely explain the situation so she didn't cause any unnecessary problems for her precious human editor or her human managers.

 

She also requested a public conference for her newly finished book. Although she kept Shiono out of the other half of her life, he should be able to guess what she had planned in this circumstance. He couldn't prove that he knew she was a ghoul any more than he could prove that she was wearing red socks today. The CCG would leave him alone after a few harassing interviews. Eto could honestly admit that she cared enough about him to want him uninvolved. He'd been a good man, for a human.

 

She honestly did not know why in the world they would agree to her demand, but it worked in her favor and saved her a violent improvisation. Such a thing would have only damaged her reputation and sullied the image of _the peaceful ghoul author who had written about the horrors of her secret life while hiding as a human_ that she wanted to have follow Takatsuki Sen to the grave, to the protests, to the history books.

 

Even more amusing was that the CCG witnessed such a poor choice on her agency's part and promptly decided to one up them by allowing Kaneki to personally guard her without immediate arrest. Perhaps she should take that as a complement on the perfect harmlessness of her public persona? She would have to write her PR agent a kind note.

 

Granted, they weren't alone; a full squad of disposable backup happened to pop into existence as they were needed. Honestly, the CCG bred those things like roaches. No wonder they were becoming so weak and thin-blooded. They hung behind their heroic Associate Special Class Investigator Sasaki like frightened ducklings, watching her with quivering eyes, too well trained to reach for their weapons when the senior investigator on scene only looked mildly annoyed with her. The three spoiled little garden brats tucked into the squad looked ready to wilt in the heat.

 

Those little ones kept leaning forward, scampering closer to Kaneki as they walked, instinctively attracted to the familiar scent of their own kakuhou in him. They smelled more like him than Rize. Eto wondered what would become of them, once she took their favorite toy away.

 

Kaneki kept fiddling subtly with his ring finger. It was adorable.

 

With the investigators behind him, his mask broke and he looked at her plainly. The look her gave her was calculating and intense, flickering with confusion. Damn Furuta - if he hadn't blabbed they could have had a nice conversation alone. But then again, bringing Furuta into her sphere by force and implicating him more than Kaneki was equally satisfying. Kaneki needed some time to stew anyway. He'd come to her when he was ready.

 

For now, seeing him standing close beside her, unafraid, and wringing his hands together around her ring - that was enough. And her conference. That too. Eto was satisfied for the day.

 

"Well," Takatsuki Sen addressed Sasaki Haise playfully, "This is an important conference, you know. I think I want a nice, new haircut for it. Would that be alright, Mr. Investigator?"

 

What would he think of that? Surely he must be aware that his darling little Hinami had been in her care for some time, that Eto had overheard more than once the precious, tragic memory she held onto in how her _gentle older brother had cut her hair for her, of course she couldn't change the shape; it was all she had left of him._ Evidently, he was good at it. Evidently, it meant something to him.

 

His twitching finger froze and his gaze cut sharply back to her. His eyes searched hers for a long, long moment. Eto waited.

 

He looked away finally, then turned away from her and beckoned one of the flock forward. _Too much? Too little? Too vague?_ She would have to tease him more to find out.

 

They went to a hairdresser instead. _Boo_. Eto would have to teach him how to play ball properly, later. It was incredible information to have - what one would do to anther's body when given permission. She would have agreed, after the initial flush of rage had passed, and then kept the power in her hands as she did something she loved with him - marked him so that every time he felt his hair or looked into a mirror he could only see her intention, how she had changed him into what she wanted him to look like. Impermanent, yes. Harmless, yes, _but_. Where trust fell and what one did with such things could reveal or shroud everything.

 

When pressed to make a personal, intimate connection with her on her terms with the threat of an unknown amount of knowledge on the field, Kaneki Ken pushed her a safe distance away. A good, if boring choice. Refusal to acknowledge the small things could lead into denial of larger traits - like how he hated the CCG and intended to betray them, for example. Eto could say what she liked; Kaneki would turn his back to her.

 

That was more than alright; it was a pretty good view. Those dove coats had always been cut with the distinct precision to frame investigator's asses. On Kishou it was kind of funny, but on Kaneki it was another thing entirely. Too bad she couldn't give him the same lascivious, leering look she gave Kishou over it. Not like he would give her a faint sigh in return. What if she just - no. No. Patience _. Patience._

 

All the pieces for a great game were in place: Eto had done her part, all he had to do was make his answering move.

 

At least he complemented her hair before she saddled him with an even larger annoyance to deal with. They were never alone enough before the conference - Furuta had apparently rung a very loud alarm bell on her - and then there was quite the buzz afterword, as well. Ah, well. She had plenty of time to tease him in closer quarters later on.

 

The most she had managed was gripping his hand suddenly behind the stage of her last conference - his hand was still so warm, with her ring a solid groove hidden under his glove. _Yes_. Although he didn't react overmuch, the sweetly shocked expression he wore as she cradled his palm and kissed the back of his hand was rather satisfying. That... wasn't exactly up to standard, but Noro would forgive her in these circumstances. Had Kaneki blushed a tiny bit under her wink, or had that been wishful thinking? With a whisper of _showtime_ , she'd dropped his hand and entered the stage with him at her side.

 

Then, she outed herself as a ghoul on live TV.

 

She looked forward to playing with him properly.

 

_Your move, Kaneki Haise._

 

* * *

 

Her cell in the famed Corniculum was blessedly cool, but horribly bland.

 

It was exactly what she expected. The CCG was nowhere near as efficient as their PR claimed, and she hoped that her announcement had thrown them for a loop. They didn't know what to do with her. The Washuu had trapped themselves behind their own red tape, preventing them from smelting and consuming the powerful ghouls they brought in.  Free, open access for all high ranking investigators to claimed ghouls might have seemed like a small token at first, but it crippled them in the long run. Humans kept fierce grudges, and were as possessive as children. The Washuu should have very well known such things. Ghouls were like apples, in that way. Forbidden, plentiful, beautiful. Edible...

 

Well. Regardless, it gave her time to think. Eto knew exactly what she wanted - she knew the two things she wanted with all her being perfectly. But were they truly aligned? Could she successfully induce the destruction needed to bring about a hard reset while also ensuring her own place in the future? Oh, probably. But how to go about it...

 

Her king was chosen; that die was long since cast, and she still put her full faith in Kaneki Ken as a king. Kishou had just... _assumed_ that the ghoul definition and expectations of a king would be put aside, but he simply didn't know alpha like Eto did. Having such a powerful omega enthroned above ghouls, the ancient mantle of king on Kaneki's shoulders, the strength of his kakuja, his charmingly simple beauty - there wasn't an alpha alive that wouldn't be drooling to swear fealty to him. It wouldn't even take a day or two before some enthralled idiot was begging him to bear their child in exchange for total loyalty and every scrap they owned.

 

Not that Eto was any better, but she at least understood that for the boon that it was. Hell, that's where half of Aogiri came from: desperate alpha vying for Tarara's attention and rare kagune. It made for the perfect shield and excuse for herself to be near him, as a favored retainer. It also bolstered the ranks and kept them loyal to the death. It was a bit of a shame, though. Tatara had only had two children and had sent them off with their alpha, so not even Eto knew if the flames of Chi She Lian lived on.

 

Kaneki's rise to power would be the same, if not even more explosive. It would depend on how long it took to get him to truly accept his position, to accept the power he wielded with just his body, to delve into the politicking and negotiations of birth that ruled the world of ghouls. He was such a sucker for poetic justice - if she framed it as a change from bringing death to bringing life, he'd probably fall right into it. Well, it wasn't like there wouldn't be a buffer, anyway. There was no way she'd let anyone else claim him first - she fully intended to have him kinged and pregnant before he knew it. Maybe, with one ring on his hand and one child already on its way, he'd be more amenable to having more in the future. If he allowed her to live, and her child to be born, at least.

 

Ah, she wanted to see again already! It should be a bit longer before he visits her, but _oh,_ fuck if she wasn't getting excited already.

 

She did not expect to see Kishou, and would have been disappointed in him if she did.

 

The door to the reception room of her cell opened without preamble, and she dutifully ignored it for a moment or two, leaning back in her chair before the window, staring instead at the white ceiling. No cracks. No watermarks. Ambient lighting. Functioning AC. This place might have a higher rent than her apartment.

 

Someone pulled out the chair across from hers and cleared their throat.

 

She spared a glance over, then lurched in her chair, sending it back down on all fours with her feet on the ground instead of the ledge. Kaneki Ken looked a bit unimpressed.

 

Her assumption had been that he would avoid her for a few days, plotting his own little schemes and acting out a bit more, before addressing the flesh eating elephant in the room. Apparently not; maybe her courting had been more successful than even she anticipated...?

 

He looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes bruised and deep, his hair limp and uncared for. The too-white lighting made his skin look porcelain pale, highlighting every tiny blue vein and turning his eyes to silver. The same pitch black coat covered him completely, as always.

 

He really did look so much like Kishou, but openly dyed the colors of a ghoul rather than bathed in white. He stood out so darkly against the dove-white of the CCG; so clearly a ghoul among humans - a hunted wolf among armed, hateful little sheep - a kitten with rams' horns being kept as a pet by an old man with a sympathetic heartache.

 

What a pair those two must make, those sheep dressed as wolves bleating on a stage set for a tragedy. _Eto surely knew how to pick them._

 

Kaneki regarded her with a wary, slightly downturned expression, his expressive eyes flickering around her face in the tense silence. While he didn't seem entirely pleased to see her, there was something in his expression - a deepness to his cataloging stare that betrayed his interest in her. If nothing else, he wanted answers. But not yet, not when he didn't quite know the right questions, when he didn't know his own heart. When he had already decided his death date.

 

Eto folded her hands beneath her chin and leaned her elbows on the ledge, edging closer. Waiting. _Oh, she would give him more than answers._

 

She wondered idly if he was still wearing her ring, or if he kept it somewhere safe instead. He was too smart to turn it in as evidence against her; it would only look like a collusion. It was hard to tell through his gloves, but Eto had the feeling he still wore it, still felt it like a brand on his skin.

 

He swallowed once, then set a thin clipboard on the desk between them.

 

"There are a few follow up questions," He began. The way he spoke - quietly, carefully, not quite addressing Eto, but not taking his eyes off her - he wasn't here because he wanted to be. Not yet. _It should have been a few more days._ Whatever words he had to say came from a script written by the CCG and was nothing Eto wanted to hear.

 

They most likely didn't expect any answers out of her, so it didn't matter if she listened or not. Teasing Kaneki was all that she came here to do, after all.

 

His scent was so strong now; an extra warmth, an extra _spice_ had heightened it some since yesterday. Beyond the heavy kakuja scent there was something light, clean, almost delicate. It was mostly overpowered by the rising hormones that Eto had teased to the surface. It really would take very little to send him into heat, now that he was going to be repeatedly exposed to Eto's courting pheromones. But Eto - might be a little impatient. There weren't any other visible symptoms yet, but -

 

 _Eto could smell him through the glass_.

 

Eto leaned forward slowly, tilting as close to the small opening in the glass as she could, and concentrated hard on what she wanted. Kaneki watched her carefully, his eyes only flickering away for a second to reference the papers. Yes, he asked a question, but Eto wasn't listening to the words. Honestly, he had a nice voice. Soft, and pitched to quieter tones, almost melodic in his cadence. That was nice, but the tender shape his pink lips made as he spoke was even better. When he wasn't speaking, he tended to let his mouth rest just slightly open, a tiny slit of space available between his lips - too small to glimpse his teeth through, but enough to be noticed.

 

His face was cute, round cheeked and so youthful, adorably heartshaped. The exaggerated glasses shape really did fit him well. This close, Eto could tell that the very ends of his hair were slightly curled, a tiny bit fluffier than the slick, smooth expanse of the body of it.

 

Rinkaku skin was always so soft - every little imperfection healed quickly and they had a natural elasticity that kept them looking young. Unfortunate that their bones were so brittle. Anyway, Kaneki would be soft - silken skin pulled over lean muscle, with none of the squish omega were known for. Eto might be a little bit hung up on that. It was an oddly attractive dichotomy, however. He commanded such strength, wielded such power, yet none of that stemmed from his gender. If his strength was this impressive now, what would he become once Eto was done molding him into a stronger, softer shape? When he gave in to his instincts? _What would a Kaneki Ken completely immersed in his own potential power be like?_

 

Eto shuddered, maybe a little more aroused than she should be by just that, but let herself go. The heavy scent of her arousal filled the room, leaking through the slots in the glass. Although his senses were weak, he should be more sensitive to her and her alone. Just a little push should do it, a _little bit more_...

 

What would it be like to touch him? That pale, thin skinned complexion spoke of poor circulation and a cool temperature, but it was possible that his rinkaku healing countered it. Eto herself ran hot; would she be able to warm him up with her own touch, her own skin, her own body - or would they meet as two boiling seas?

 

_Would Eto be strong enough to have her own way with him, or would it be even better to watch him lose himself on top of her? Would he ravish her completely? Fuck her until he was fully satisfied? Would he devour her in his heat?  
_

 

Oh, Eto _wanted_ him so badly. She wanted to test her strength against him, wanted to challenge and be challenged in return, wanted to push him into a new kind of strength. Wanted to _fuck him full_ -

 

Kaneki's kakugon veins swelled slowly, creeping across his face without his notice for a few long seconds as he recited some useless question, bathed in Eto's scent. _Still not enough_. It was a risk, but -

 

Eto opened her mouth and let out a small sound, a quiet, not-quite-noise, something between a chirrup and a purr.

 

Between one startled blink and the next, Kaneki's kakugon activated.

 

He jerked away from the glass, covering his eye, utterly helpless in his instinctive response to her scent, her call. _For him_. The clipboard clattered to the floor, forgotten. The glasses she'd gifted him were pushed up into his bangs, leaving his shocked, honest expression completely naked to her gaze.

 

Eto watched in awe as his uncovered pupil swelled huge as he met her stare, his cheeks flushing pink, his lips parting further in shock - _yes, yes, yes._ Thoughtlessly, he leaned closer, taking in a small breath of her scent that left him in a shaky little gasp. _Please_ , Eto thought, just as caught, _come here. Open the door. Break the glass. Let me touch you._

 

Then, she made a mistake. It really was just _too soon._

 

She opened her mouth again, to - to _call_ , or to cajole, or to _plead_ with him, and the small movement snapped the room in half.

 

The chair clattered to the floor behind him as he stood, turning away from her, the hand guarding his kakugon blocking her view of his face.

 

He turned toward her, so subtly she might have missed it if she weren't perfectly content to watch his every move. His lips parted a bare few millimeters, and for a few precious seconds he remained frozen, unsure. Eto waited with baited breath, but he swallowed whatever words he might have said, whatever noise he might have made in response, and fled the room.

 

Eto couldn't help the wide smile overtaking her face any more than she could temper her delight, any more than she could help her erection.

 

There were risks that were worth taking, and she felt certain that this one would prove fruitful.

 

* * *

 

It took three days for him to come back to her.

 

In the meantime, Eto had decided that being dominated sounded pretty good, actually.

 

Oh, Kaneki would fight her. He would fight her fiercely, but the point of a courting fight was not to kill an alpha that had made it that far, but to ensure that they had truly deserved to. It would be a fight of prowess and skill, leading to a very different end than any other fight either of them had been a part of. Their fight on the rooftop all those months ago was a tiny taste, a pathetic appetizer, next to the beautiful conflict that was coming.

 

And Eto would be fine with losing. Honestly, the mere idea of Kaneki losing himself to his instincts and claiming her as his first alpha, of him falling fully into heat on her cock, of him fucking himself on her in victory, holding her down with the power of his kagune, snarling at her if she so much as twitched without his permission - _yes_ , Eto had kept herself quite entertained those three days.

 

She wouldn't do something as borderline insulting and suicidal as throw the fight, but. If it happened, it happened. It would be a waste of a perfectly groomed king candidate to accidentally kill him, and wasteful of her own effort to allow herself to die, now that she had a more short term goal to strive for. The best course of action would be to trigger his heat before engaging him, for the best outcome...

 

But it seemed she may not have to work too hard at that, either.

 

The sight that greeted her on that third day was of a flushed, quietly seething Kaneki, his left eye hidden under an eyepatch. _Oh, how nostalgic!_

 

There was only a tiny hiss of _"Boss!"_ from the hallway before silence descended once the outer door was shut.

 

He looked _so good_ with a heat mask blossoming so _bright_ across his face, framing his eyes - well, eye. If the other wasn't deactivating, that was a good sign.

 

_His heat was setting in._

 

Too bad he was so resistant to his own instincts; it looked like denying his preheat was taking its toll on him, adding to the stress and exhaustion he was already subjecting himself to. That moralizing, however fascinating it was as a character study, would have to go. If Eto triggered his heat within Corniculum or Cochlea he would probably take out a few investigators without even noticing until afterwords, he was so starved for meat and blood and territory. After mating successfully with her, his heats would be more fierce - however wild and voracious he became during this one would help to convince him to give in to bingeing earlier for the next. And the next, _and the next_...

 

It was lamentable that Eto wasn't able to continue sending him meat right now, however; he'd become much more receptive to her overtures if the way he stalked forward, his glare hard on her, was any indication. He acted out violence well when the illusion suited his usually peaceful ideals, yet gave into bloody fighting just as easily as any other omega - she could probably push him over the edge _right now_ , if she tried hard enough.

 

But no, no. Eto wanted to see his own little plans come to fruition first. She could certainly respect a plotted strategy and expected something great of him, even if it had to be accelerated. Patience had served her well this long; she could continue laying out her offerings and extending her hand for a little longer. All uncertain things were skittish and wary of her at first, but she'd only left them more powerful, in the end. By the looks of him, it wouldn't be longer than a few more days, at most.

 

And how would he react - to his heat, to Eto, to her courting as it was laid bare? _How would he react when Eto made a king of him? When Eto made a mother of him?_

 

He carried something. It wasn't a clipboard but it also wasn't the pretty flush on his face, and that was all Eto cared about anyway. He wasn't quite stumbling, but he did look a little unbalanced, although he hid it well. The coat hid it more, though. Eto was really starting to dislike that thing. It was a Pavlovian response to being cockblocked by thick fabric throughout the entire courting. Had she really never seen his whole body, save for the pictures she'd bought off of the little empireless Tsukiyama heir's photographer? During their fight she'd had a few glimpses, but it had become so dark with only the moon to leak silver on his head, so that hardly counted. Eto... was a little disappointed that she didn't possess an exact _before_ shot. She wanted to be able to catalog every tiny change to his body that she wrought, as he grew and changed and flowered under her care.

 

His body was so unique; Rize's intense power as an omega had allowed him to retain the same dynamic, although Haise's tender, alpha personality didn't match. The lack of a ghoul hierarchy within the CCG should have lowered him into a sigma, at the least. Did he consider his main ward's office his territory? Perhaps his kakuja had allowed him to keep his position? Maybe the quinx brats had acted as a pseudo family...

 

Regardless, it was a boon for Eto that he had remained so strong. She would probably have gotten deliriously bored with this overlong, multifaceted life and been left with the option to die dramatically before him, guilting him into accepting her cause. Kishou would happily do the same, so she felt no shame in admitting it. There was only so much either of them could do for the throne from their current positions. But Eto was changing her position violently - the chessboard was about to be upended, and it was no fault of hers if the other pieces weren't strong enough to cling to their positions. Whether she clung to hers depended on her successful checking of Kaneki, of her queening him while the pawns scrambled and fell. They wouldn't even know to try to stop her.

 

The chair was pulled back from the desk with perfect calm, but Eto had already seen his thunderous expression. Was his coat belted a little more loosely, pulled a little tighter across his hips? _Eto was going to rip it off him._ But - beneath his collar, was that tiny hint of green - _Eto's sweater?_ It looked like it. _It smelled like it._ He really was accepting her completely -! _Soon, soon, soon,_  pounded through her being, pulsing like a river as she flooded the space with her scent. For him, she would wait. Only for him would she hold her tongue, test her patience, bide her time.

 

Kaneki Ken was worth the wait.

 

Sitting so close to him now, she could really tell that it was hitting him hard. Kaneki had likely never been courted by an alpha, let alone one so powerful - his own pheromones, his own body, must be driving him mad for it, for her, screaming at him to _give in_ to what he needed. He was starving, and Eto would gladly feed him.

 

Whatever changes may or may not be happening to his body that _she could not see_ \- was his belly softening, aching where his uterus was thickening as he prepared to carry the weight of a child, or was he starved too thin for that? Were his already curvy hips widening, his chest filling out? _Why hadn't he just eaten Eto's gifts._ It would be so much easier on him if he had. Eto would gladly feed him the entire CCG, if it meant he would give her an heir.

 

Technically, Kaneki had never fully blossomed into omegan maturity, so this heat would be especially brutal on him, as he finished metamorphosing. But his scent was _incredible_ \- and the tender, peachy blush of heat had sweetened his face; he would fall soon, whether or not his body was entirely ready for it. That wasn't ideal, but neither was anything else in Eto's life.

 

She laughed at him, and he did not look away. _Oh, how lovely._ She was drowning in his scent already and deliciously giddy with it.

 

It was time for the last formal gift - the peak - the  _pièce de résistance_ of her careful workmanship - the final, overt hint that would let him know exactly what Eto wanted from him, exactly what she planned to do once she got her hands on him -

 

The book he placed on the desk distracted her for a moment. _King Bileygr_.

 

It was not a clean copy; the pages were fanned out and Eto could see the line where he'd carefully folded them to keep the spine intact. _Ah, how wonderful!_ It had certainly been a gift addressed to him, but not to him alone. Every eye that could read those bold words was meant to repeat them. Every mouth that could speak was meant to bite the fruit she endorsed. Every being that could eat was meant to think about _flesh_.

 

Eto leaned forward, as close to the glass as a more casual attempt could bring her and smiled at him, waiting. Kaneki swallowed and glanced away, tilting his head a fraction as he glanced up at the useless camera in the corner of the reception room for a beat. They both knew full well that Furuta had already done something to it. His gaze swung back to hers slowly, and there was an arresting weight to it - her breath caught at the new, more open expression he leveled at her. The heat-exhaustion was palpable. He really needed a mate to take care of him.

 

He was _begging_ for her, whether he knew it or not.

 

 "I read it," He announced, his voice dry and soft in the ringing silence. Even the noise of his own voice made him wince. He wet his lips, the tiny little slit between them held a fraction more open than before, his pupil dilating further as he breathed in her scent before continuing. "Is this... what you've been leading up to?"

 

Eto tilted her head more firmly into her hands, feeling the very ends of her hair tickle her arms as she watched him struggle. His attention kept flickering, his gaze a bit unfocused as he tried to keep his eye on her face - it kept drifting instead to whatever tiny movement she made, tracking her instinctively, waiting for her to strike. Eto _would_ break the glass with her own two hands and take him here and now - but he had his own plans. So did she. _Patience, patience. Cochlea first, then she could fuck an heir to her throne into him._

 

"Not quite, but it is a metaphor. Did you like it? There's a... prequel to it, just for you."

 

The sudden, laser sharp focus of his attention wholly on her made Eto melt a bit. _Yes, look only at me -_

 

"Another gift?" The whisper filled the room.

 

"Yes. It's the last; will you accept it?"

 

All the light in the room seemed to pour from his eye.

 

* * *

 

Furuta might have come by and raged at her the next day, or he might not have. It literally did not matter. Nothing mattered now, save for one thing.

 

Furuta might have had the same kagune as Kaneki, but his misuse of omegan power smacked of deliberate avoidance, of side stepping something frightening rather than simple ignorance and lack of incentive. He seemed the desperate type who would build up a harem he couldn't control and then lose all the alpha he captured to better partners, better leaders, and then make that everyone else's problem.

 

Or - he might have been that way, had he been a true omega. Or a real ghoul. Eto could still smell the weak, half-human gamma he'd be born as through the rising fog of his stolen kakuhou's pheromones. It was much weaker on him, and he clearly didn't know how to cultivate it, how to use that kind of strength. Furuta was ultimately too human; he would always consider himself in a position of power through his human male side than acknowledge the wealth of strength he'd be able to wield as an omegan ghoul.

 

An apple wouldn't fall far from the tree if it refused to leave the orchard.

 

If he had been as intent as Eto, he would have worked with what he had and gained power anyway. It was a bit hilarious - Eto, who was trapped by the alignment of her inherited kakuhou and just human enough to be unable to bend it fully to her will, was one of the strongest ghouls alive, and would certainly be the strongest in Cochlea: Furuta hadn't even made an effort to strain against his set biology and had to resort to becoming an artificial omega in order to be able to so much as lift a finger in her direction. Sure, he was probably physically powerful and willing to expend all his strength recklessly on one opponent, but he would never make it in reality. He didn't intend to.

 

Gods, what pathetic, hopeless fools they all were. The stage was set in a garden, the script prepared to a T, yet all the actors hid in the wings, crying out for death.

 

All Furuta could really do was posture at her for a minute or two before scampering off again. Really, his childish attitude was unfortunate. If he stopped acting and started thinking, _well_. It may have been him that Eto fixated on, in another life. In this one, however, he was nothing but obnoxious in his desperation. He swung like a pendulum between hand wringing bootlicking and wild, ecstatic violence. Neither were attractive, and the successful, if half-hearted, compartmentalization left much to be desired in the way of any real personality.

 

A waste, honestly. He could go ahead and lead the CCG into self destruction, that was fine by Eto, she really didn't give much of a fuck, but if _that_ had been a pathetic attempt to force a courtship on her, she _would_ kill him, just to save him the embarrassment. _Dominate her_ , that little weasel, she'd like to see him try. He wouldn't know what to do with an alpha if she sat up and bit him.

 

Would he ever figure out what _the true One Eyed King is in the belly_ meant? Probably not.

 

Well, she'd had fun riling him into a screeching rage, at any rate.

 

And it prompted Kaneki to visit her again, so the ends justified the annoyance.

 

That was where it became dangerous, however.

 

He'd passed off the recording device and the book through the slot at the front of her cell, and their hands had not met. The residual warmth of his body heat had felt amazing - and only partially because Eto had been locked in a cold cell for days. Ah, he was the warm type. _She couldn't wait to make him hotter._

 

But she had to. There was too much at stake, in these precarious few moments before his heat struck. It would put them both in a bad position if they were to engage in Corniculum; there wasn't anything for him to eat besides Eto and the more confining space of the inner cells would lower the quality of their fight. Eto had the real stage planned out and would allow no substitutes. Everything was moving on schedule, however, so she could wait. And wait. _And wait._ The reward for her patience would be more than worth it.

 

She'd been given an incredible reward for the last few days alone, after all. The book he gifted - _gifted!_ \- to her wasn't merely covered with his scent, it was _notated_. Kaneki had looked so shy, blinking away from her, scratching his flushed cheek idly as he murmured something about _paying her back._

 

It was amazing, he really was a good reader - such a fine sense for detail, a solid knowledge base of mythology, a willingness to theorize between the lines - he did a wonderful job of identifying the small things she did as an author that were not planned, yet inevitably became part of the work. His writing started out so neat in the beginning, likely for her sake, then slowly became more messy and hurried as time passed. The blank sheets at the end were filled with analysis, punctuated with questions for her.

 

He seemed to understand the unspoken themes in the novel perfectly. Beside the rousing speech given by the director to the human masses were merely the letters _CCG_.

 

Eto would gladly explain everything else to him, in due time.

 

But not yet; it wouldn't make a difference at this point and he was so lost in his heat that anything she told him may not sink in. Once he was more clear headed and securely on the throne, Eto would happily advise him on the truths of this disgusting world. But she was feeling selfish, as of late. Her own, more time sensitive wants would come first. It was so kind of Furuta to explain for her in a way that would last.

 

A few minutes after Furuta disappeared, the door slowly swung open. Kaneki damn near staggered inside, leaning on the wall as he eased the door shut again. Eto would have begun to tease him, but his scent, his _power_ flooded the room immediately, freezing her in place.

 

He was suffering right on the cusp of heat - it wouldn't even take a bare second of Eto loosing her concentration on _patience_ to tip him over the edge. And she wanted to - _oh, fuck, how badly she wanted to_ \- her own eye had turned and her disobedient dick was attempting a mutiny.

 

 _No_ , she had to stay strong, _stay steady_. Think of the reward, the outcome, _what she had been striving for for almost thirteen years - he wasn't ready -  
_

 

He really wasn't ready for this. He was trembling with exhaustion and weakness - the opposite of the active rage a heated omega should be showing. It was no fault but his own; if he hadn't starved himself thin, he'd have enough strength to fuel his metamorphosis with ease, and wouldn't be struggling with the draining biological force that was heat. _Oh_ , he really would give in and eat any meat Eto sent, at this stage. What would this factor do to their final engagement? Could she just ply him with flesh and allow the satisfaction of bingeing to win him over, or would he get more aggressive with her, as an alpha whose courting had left him hungry? Should she line up another alpha for him to fight and devour first, to curb his rage a bit?

 

Ah, this was getting more and more thrilling with every turn!

 

Having retrieved the recorder from where she'd set it in the slot, Kaneki practically fell into the chair. Eye sliding shut, he panted quietly, reaching up to press the - the -

 

Her last gift to him was wrapped around his throat like a scarf, adding to the layers of his heat, her sweater, his gloves, his _heat, that fucking coat, fuck -_

 

It took every ounce of power Eto contained not to make a single sound, not to move so much as a muscle beyond gripping as tightly as she could at the edges of her seat. His single exposed eye cut into her when he focused his lidded, heavy gaze back on her. His mouth, so pink and open and _soft_ , looked beautiful resting just above the rich, jewel-dark red of the tiny blanket. The last gift. Her intention. It had been hers, then Noro had hidden it for her, then she had hidden it for Noro. Eto had honestly never once thought that she would actually use it. But seeing it like this -

 

The last gift a courting party gave to an omega. It usually came after the acceptance had been granted, and sooner before their heat, but they were a little pressed for time, here. But he'd accepted it. She - might not have laid out what it truly meant, but he'd listened to her and retieved it from its hiding place, and he'd chosen to press it close to his skin, to impart his scent on it as thickly as her own, so that when - when the baby was born, it would be comfortable, surrounded by the scent of its parents.

 

Somehow, it was helping her calm herself. Kaneki Ken was already hers. A hybrid child would be born between them, and she would carefully wrap it up in that blanket and never let it go.

 

She spent the few minutes that he took to listen to the recording calming herself further. She couldn't push him any more than this, not if she expected to get what she wanted. Kaneki was completely gone - the heat-flush he bore was stark against his pale skin, the edges under his eyes clean enough to look painted on, the gradient of it more natural along his cheeks, where it disappeared under the blanket. He was so pale and bloodless, panting and feverish. Wasn't Kishou supposed to be watching him? Wasn't that spine user supposed to be babysitting Haise? Did they really let him leave looking like this? Even a human should be able to tell that something was wrong with him. Even they should have enough pity to let him have a little more to eat. It had to be like kicking a puppy at this point, he looked so bad.

 

The CCG really didn't know what a precious jewel it had in him. An unguarded treasure would inevitably attract a dragon, spark a war.

 

The quiet sigh he let out once he finished was the first sound in the room that was not Furuta or Eto's mocking laughter.

 

"What's the point of this?" He asked quietly, turning the recorder she'd requested over and over in his hands, slowly considering it.

 

Ah, he really was intent on dying, wasn't he? Eto had hoped to appeal to his moralizing by exposing the seedy underbelly of the CCG, but it seemed that even this much meant nothing to him any more. Would he pass that off on to someone else, or let it get lost in the scuffle? Perhaps she'd been remiss in not attempting to win over his rational mind as much as his instincts. Not that she would actually allow him to perish, but without him knowing that - she would have to act fast once he made a move.

 

"You still don't understand how deep it goes, do you?" She began, pitching her voice carefully into a nonconfrontational tone. "Let me phrase it this way: you remember the RC gate that you should not have passed through?" Eto waited a beat for him to refocus on her, his expression so fuzzy and distant that she had to wonder if he was even really seeing her. It had also been quite some time since then. And she never had gotten any confirmation on the state of his memories. "Kakuhou of the Washuu clan are exempt. Because of my father, who was of V, I was able to pass through. Because Kamishiro Rize escaped from V, you were able to pass through."

 

The shock cleared his expression a little. Eto chuckled darkly, a bit glad to finally have a captive audience in him.

 

"I learned about the Washuu through the journals my mother left behind. She was investigating V and used my father to get closer to them. I am but the surplus of that relationship."

 

It was some type of irony, wasn't it? Investigating into the Washuu, into V, had lead to her parents meeting and her own birth: her more direct investigation of the Washuu had ended in her choosing Kaneki to bear her child. Could her father have even understood such complex irony? Could her mother? Could Kafka? _Would Kaneki?_

 

"It's because of Rize that you're like this now, you know." Another small risk, but -

 

Eto reached up slowly and tapped her own clear cheek, indicating his heat-mask. His own hand crept up, his thumb rubbing against the line of it. The eye that stared at her in confusion remained clear, though still wide.

 

"Did you enjoy my gift, dear Kaneki?"

 

Silence filled the space between them for a long moment. He seemed almost ready to ignore her, to default back to death by Kishou again, but then his hand brushed against the gift around his throat as he lowered it. His eye closed slowly, his long lashes fluttering, before opening into a more steady gaze.

 

"Because of Rize - not _you_?"

 

 _Good eyes, boy._ Eto was dangerously close to purring. _Yes_ \- this heat was entirely because of her. Her omega - her king.

 

"If you grant one wish of mine, I'll tell you everything you want to know," She promised.

 

"I'll hear you out, just this once, _Takatsuki Sen_."

 

Eto smiled.

 

_"Give me the One Eyed King."_


	3. OM:matidium

Her transfer to Cochlea went smoothly, and was at least a nice break after a long night spent drifting between staring at a wall in silence and getting _unfortunately_ horny without any hope for a proper release yet. His heat had finally begun to affect her as well.

 

Eto nearly vibrated with excitement. Today she would see her plans come to a head; today she would get everything she had ever wanted.

 

Kaneki trailed at the back of the procession guiding her into Cochlea, doing a remarkable job of appearing put together and trustworthy. The scent of him flooded the corridor, strong enough that even the doves had to be able to smell it now. It was pure pheromones, and made her head feel fuzzy; she had to keep adjusting herself as she walked. The temptation to turn around was painfully strong, but the pressure of his power kept her in line more than the other doves' weapons did. The thrumming pressure of him made obedience feel _good_. If he told her to break her bonds and kill the doves around her and surrender her crafted plans - _oh, fuck, she would_. 

 

She'd gotten only a glimpse of him when they were initially heading out - for a moment, he'd looked so _unaffected_ , his heat-mask _gone_ without a trace, that Eto felt herself loosing touch with her rage for a bare second. But she could still _smell_ it, alongside the powdery scent of - _ah_. He was wearing makeup, artfully applied to hide his condition. _How resourceful._ Not even the humans would do something as dimwitted as allow an obviously physically ill person to guard a high risk prisoner. He'd done his part to ensure his own plans fell through, and Eto had to admire that determination. It was still - viscerally disturbing. The heavy, dark glare he leveled at her paired with the sheer oozing power of his scent removed from the context of the mask - Eto swooned just thinking about how powerful he would have to be to do so. It wasn't the case here, but she was floating along on instinct and whatever was less than five feet from he nose, and also very aroused, so. It was so easy to get distracted.

 

The coat remained. Eto was a little glad for it - that damn coat was the final obstacle against her, the silk ribbon waiting to be cut, the wrapping around a long anticipated gift, the modest covering shielding sensual nudity from her view. It also helped her keep a certain anticipation up - being so modestly covered like that while burning with heat was a little hot, Eto had to admit. She might be into it. It's more possible that she's into Kaneki and desperate to lay her hands on his body, exposed for her, heated for _her_ , being fucked by _her_ -

 

Eto had no idea what he looked like - had his belly gone omega soft, squishy and rounded and comfortable? How much lean muscle did he still have, how round were his strong thighs, really? Before the curtain of night fell, she would _know_ \- all that and _more_. The exact texture of his skin, the sound of his moans, the strength of his claws, the flavor of his blood -

 

She had to bite her lip, remind herself of the reward for waiting to strike, for having _patience_ , and reigned herself in firmly.

 

The minor disguise was enough to avoid Kishou's suspicion, at the least. Or perhaps he was paying his approval in silence...? Turning a blind eye, so to speak?

 

The doves around her startled at her sudden chuckle, but kept up as she and Kaneki continued walking.

 

_Dear Kishou. Poor Kishou. Whatever would become of him?_

 

She did a better job of containing her laughter this time.

 

Kaneki's gaze caught hers through the glass when the door to her final cell locked shut. It was sharper than the other day - fierce behind his glasses as he stared back at her, something so heavy and harsh hidden behind the steely veil of his tempered expression. The aggression she'd been anticipating must be setting in - his heat would break today, _soon_ , a few bare hours, minutes. _Moments_.

 

The makeup did a fine job of concealing his exhaustion, but his posture was so tense and deliberate that it was impossible not to notice. The coat was open slightly at the top, revealing a wonderful sliver of his pale throat, but today he did not wear her gifts. _Was that his answer...?_ What of her ring? Eto sincerely wanted to see him wear it when they mated. She'd give her trust to him in the true ceremony, then.

 

Eto knew, as easily as if she'd written it out for him, what his plans were. There was a certain amount she'd let him get away with before taking control. Kaneki could rescue whoever he pleased, bring whatever chaos to the CCG he wanted, but he would be hers. _Soon_.

 

The way he looked back at her made her feel like he knew that. There was something too _dark_ in his expression, even for death. The pieces he had set in place would be the last ones to move on the chessboard, before Eto had her way with him.

 

The tension held discreetly in his jaw didn't ease under her rapt stare, even as he turned away and marched down the hall. The other doves quickened their steps to keep up with him.

 

Looking like that, he might very well devour them of his own accord.

 

Well, _probably not_ , but Eto could dream.

 

Then Eto was alone, waiting for a carefully cultivated miracle. She sat at the front of her cell, trying to breathe sparingly - the RC gas here was significantly more concentrated than in Corniculum, and she needed to be at her peak for the main event.

 

Everything here was white, glass, terrible in its lack. These little execution cells were like personal display cases - any cowardly dove who wished to come ghoul viewing could do so in safety. _How pathetic. How poetic._ What a pointed metaphor for humanity.

 

She leaned her head back in her chair and let herself stew in her courting high, aided by the lingering scent of Kaneki, so near to heat that he was close to _breaking_ -

 

Oh, what was it going to be like, when he truly, fully, honestly became a king? When the sheer power he contained burst forth in his heat and found only Eto to match him in strength? Would they fight? Would they dance? Would they fuck as soon as he metamorphosed into maturity? Would they have enough time to reach the stage Eto had so carefully set?

 

_She couldn't wait to find out the hard way. Speaking of hard -_

 

_Footsteps._

 

Her head lolled as she leaned forward, just enough to see Furuta approaching. Only her respect for his physical power and a weariness for the obnoxious place he might be able to occupy in her narrative made her raise her head up and focus on him. And ease the hand out of her pants. Again. Unless he tossed a real wrench in her plans _right now_ , she cared little for what he may have to say. It was suspicious that he had turned up at all, frankly. It was annoying that he had turned up at all.

 

Either he thought he had her in check, which was impossible, or he had a proposition for her, which was worse. Little upstarts who fancied themselves entitled to some kind of throne should know better than to _waste her time_.

 

He greeted her with his usual smile, hiding something behind his back just poorly enough to allow her to notice it. _Brat_.

 

"It seems your book has been published far and wide, Takatsuki Sen~sei," He lead in with an absurd innocence. This obsession with appearing harmless was getting on her nerves - it was utterly pointless here, yet he clung to the sad mask he'd welded to his face in infancy as though by the skin of his teeth. Even looking so satisfied, he reeked of desperation.

 

"Your kind editor worked very hard to get it published, having to go against the company, the CCG, even his own boss! He even -"

 

"Is he dead?" Eto interrupted, tired beyond words of this pathetic imitation Washuu.

 

Furuta only smiled wider, appearing perfectly content to have his thunder stolen. The object he'd been hiding was revealed with an over dramatic flair of triumph. A plain Tupperware container, full of meat.

 

"I've made him into a paté for you! Eat up!" He dropped it to the floor and kicked it into her cell through the food slot. It slid to a halt against her chair legs, screeching on the shiny flooring.

 

"Why, thank you for the meal, you clown." Eto replied blandly, not deigning to look at it.

 

Furuta laughed, the fool, and proudly turned his back on her, stopping as if on afterthought. "Whatever little stunt you and my sweet little boss have planned... I eagerly await the show."

 

He left as he had come - assured of himself, delighted, and certain of his position on the chessboard that Eto had both hands on, poised to flip. Was that supposed to scare her? Was it an olive branch? Did whatever inane little idea Furuta have even matter? Why did everything he did have the smug aura of a stage actor being praised from the other side of the camera? Was he that fundamentally insecure?

 

Eto looked at the container on her empty cell floor.

 

The scent of the meat was familiar, but the rage that consumed her at the smell was not. _Shiono_...

 

Kind of Furuta to give her a boost and sign his own death warrant with the same hand. Although he'd once flippantly promised to get her out of Cochlea, this was not what she had wanted. Oh, she would use it, but this was the one line she would not allow him to live through crossing.

 

They would meet again.

 

* * *

 

Eto could hear the alarms from her cell, too early to be little Ayato, even as desperate as he no doubt was. _Ah, young love. Such plot rending impudence._ Was Kaneki breaking out the ghoul or two he cared for, thus also unleashing a horde of enraged, starved ghouls into Tokyo?

 

 _Fuck_ , Eto really could learn to love this boy. What a monster, what a _king_. She was going to fuck him silly for that. He'd certainly produce an equally ruthless heir for her. A child between the two of them would surely build up a greater throne than Eto could even imagine.

 

 _Soon, soon, soon_. Her head swam with instinct, with want, with hunger. _Patience_. She pressed her nose to the glass, trying to peer around the corners, but nothing was happening this low in the prison yet. The heady buzz of her building rut made her head swim, even though she could smell no trace of Kaneki here.

 

But how long should she give him? He'd probably see to the personal safety of _whoever_ , then head straight into Kishou's arms, Kishou's quinque. And Furuta was trolling around, too, on top of her darling Aogiri, come at her behest to cause a little chaos and - well, do what Kaneki must be doing. A third party may also be taking advantage of the chaos. V, the Washuu...so many tiny pieces were scrambling around. It was incredibly irritating. A clean wipe through the middle of the mess should do the trick.

 

And here, all Kaneki wanted was for a single, immolating movement from one corner to the other. And he would face off with death itself in order to do so. The absolute chaos and devastation that was going to bring down on so many factions in one fell swoop -

 

Fuck, she really couldn't wait to have him by her side. He really had turned out perfectly beyond her wildest dreams; Kishou had done right by their chosen heir. 

 

The alarms continued blaring, and the distant sound of running and shouting filtered in. If Kaneki was heated enough, the sight of running ghouls and screaming humans may have goaded him into bingeing - Aogiri invading his territory, unfamiliar ghoul flesh, weaker alpha than Eto getting caught in the strangling web of his pheromones -

 

_Someone else might trigger the advent of his heat._

 

Eto's kakuja activated immediately and made short work of the reinforced glass, building up to her truest strength as she sped down the corridor, following the sounds of carnage. The smell of blood flowed easily down the empty, white hallways. None was Kaneki's.

 

She dug her claws into the walls and tore the cells open as she hunted for her mate - for his favor, she would tear this place apart like paper whether she had planned to first or not. It was hard to focus, hard to think. Claws digging deep into the white, white walls as she climbed, Eto lost herself wholly into rut.

 

Eto only had eyes for Kaneki.

 

The barest hint of his scent had her tearing thoughtlessly around another corner, the single-mindedness of a courting hunt overtaking her fully, sending her careening through the halls, destroying whatever lay before her, barely even seeing the doves she lay waste to along her path.

 

The compactor appeared. She destroyed it, then plowed through V in the wreckage. Everything was disgustingly white, and it blinded her as she rampaged. Nothing stood in her way - nothing here was strong enough to stand in her way.

 

Kaneki's scent lead her down another hall, heading deeper.

 

One corner she raced around contained Furuta, reeking of his own blood, spread out in dramatic fashion on the tile - the ending scene of a great, tragic play. Eto took great joy in biting into him before he could react - only the impulse to fight and hunt and fuck was left in her: the scent of her chosen mate's heat was strong in her mouth and courting had left her deranged alongside the usual shadow of violence that her kakuja induced. Furuta was no longer necessary, and so -

 

The great beast of an owl barely noticed when it was stabbed through the head by one kagune of the squirming creature in its mouth. No blood dripped from the wound, and it sprouted more eyes along the fissure. It clawed at the offending piece of meat, tossing it to the floor like a cat with a mouse, like an owl with a rabbit, like a ghoul with a human.

 

It tore at the flailing kagune with a roar, slicing and biting deep until no more came. The single eye glaring in horror and the similarity of the scent to the one it wanted gave it pause for a moment. Memory surged, true rage resurfaced, and the One Eyed Owl struck.

 

* * *

 

The hunt drew her deeper and deeper into the spiral of Cochlea. Eto swept up whatever prey stumbled into her path, sprouting claws to bring her hunting to her waiting mate.

 

She would pile corpses at his feet, slaughter her own forces to please him, fight him herself to win his favor, his fertility. Her mating frenzy pulled her forward, leaving no alternatives, even as another familiar scent appeared beside Kaneki's.

 

It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered.

 

Her kagune cast red light on the walls, filling Cochlea and her vision with pink - her entire form glowed in a glorious mating display, lit up with all the power she could possibly wield. Blue jolts occasionally sparked along her back, crackling loudly and popping the bulbs hidden in the panels of the walls.

 

The last wall that barred her was marked with the symbol of V, and she felt only vindictive joy in tearing through it. 

 

She landed in a field of white flowers, of glistening white concrete, with her mate standing before her, robed in black.

 

With joy in her heart, she struck.

 

* * *

 

Eto's mind came back to her with a painful snap.

 

It took a few moments for her to orientate herself, to roll all her eyes into focusing, to figure out the glorious taste in her mouth, the pain in her leg.

 

_Ah._

 

Kaneki Ken was bent in her grasp, his back cradled by one of her enormous claws, his throat in her maw.

 

_Well, that was one way to do it._

 

It certainly explained the kagune piercing her leg though her kakuja's throat.

 

Only a moment had passed since she struck, so she reveled in it. His blood was like _honey_ \- impossibly sweet and so warm, heat-struck and melting into her flesh where it poured.

 

He felt so small, so _delicate_ under her teeth, held in her great claw: despite the tiny points of contact, his body heat seeped into her, warming her through. She bit a little deeper, breathed in his scent until she choked on it, then released him.

 

The kagune stabbed into her slipped out - there were two of them, _fuck_ , she was so out of it that she'd barely felt either, she needed to get a grip and focus if she wanted to get through this trial - and they absolutely _radiated_ strength. Pitch black and glistening, they danced across the tile, pulling back to coil protectively around Kaneki as he clutched his bleeding neck, covered his bloody shoulder.

 

Eto had marked him _beautifully_.

 

His glasses were gone, his coat -

 

Eto couldn't tell if it sobered her up more or fired her up again with sharper focus to be finally, finally, _finally fucking seeing him._

It was still hanging off his arms, but his shoulders, his chest, his _belly_ -

 

Only a thin layer of armor barred her from his bare skin. It was the ugly, kagune reinforced shit, and it smelled like another ghoul. _It smelled like another ghoul._

Eto lowered her herself to the ground and roared in challenge.

 

Kaneki gasped sharply, his kagune twisting to hold him up as his legs quivered, and dropped his hands from Eto's mating mark to clutch his head. The unhealing wound glistened, no longer bleeding, but settling into his flesh eternally, beautifully, stronger than death.

 

No other alpha responded to her challenge.

 

But Kaneki did.

 

His heat _broke_ , shattering more like steel than glass as the advent of it sent him to his knees, sent his kagune into flowering.

 

It rolled through him, pouring his intoxicating scent out in choking waves, pulsed through his writhing kagune. Light so red it glowed purple flowered from within, sparked off the scales in erratic arcs. The clawed ends of them dug deep into the tile, strengthening and swelling with an almost audible snap.

 

It was the most erotic thing Eto had ever seen - her many eyes drank in the sight, her many mouths swallowed the scent of him - so much _richer_ as he fell into heat for her, by her courting, her power -

 

The scent of his answering arousal made her cock jolt, made her eyes roll -

 

And that was the thing that saved her.

 

A few of her eyes glanced up, behind him, allowing Eto to see the white shadow laying in wait.

 

She dropped lower just in time. A blast from Narukami shot well over Kaneki's bowed head and tore through her shoulder instead of her throat.

 

_What a cruel shot, Kishou._

She was so drunk on her own power, numb to everything but lust and rage, that it felt like a potshot. Her form was larger than it had ever been, and the weapon that had once destroyed her seemed like a toy. The White Reaper looked so small from here. Death was so far away.

 

The Owl laughed to see all the components to the throne gathered together, unbalanced by her power, by the selfish decision she'd made.

 

She laughed and laughed and _laughed_ -

 

The second shot blindsided her.

 

It slammed into her flank from the side, sparking across her kakuja like a small fire rather than the concentrated laser of Narukami. It _stung_ , wounding less deeply, but spreading further as it tore into Eto's kagune like teeth -

 

Her eyes found the culprit, but her mind had trouble processing it for a moment. _When had Ayato...?_

 

Eto crouched, using Kaneki's still frozen form as a thin shield from Kishou, and swung around to challenge -

 

_It was her._

 

The sister, the waitress, the coffee maker, the rabbit. _The replacement goldfish._

 

Eto had always found it ironic - Yoshimura Kuzen had dropped her off with someone else so he didn't have to accept the consequences of playing house, then went and picked up a few who'd been dropped off themselves. _How pathetic_. How disgusting.

 

The refusal to learn more about those little brats had been a deliberate one - if Eto didn't care what her shitty excuse for a father did, then she _did not care_ what her shitty excuse for a father did. If Ayato grew up strong and temperate, if Touka merged seamlessly into human society with a successful business - _whatever_. They did those things on their own. She'd killed her dead weight of a father, and they were also better for it.

 

Frankly, they should be thanking her. No one else had the strength to take out the trash when it began to rot, after all. She had never cared for them or against them; a fight would be pointless.

 

But none of that mattered anymore - _hadn't mattered for years_ \- had never mattered - the question now was -

 

_Was Eto being challenged for Kaneki?_

 

Both Kirishima were solid mu, had risen in strength impressively over the years, and the scent that barely drifted across the space now was the same. A stronger dynamic, and an impressive kagune, but Eto's kakuja won out - as did her claim, still bloody on his shoulder.

 

Eto had already won his attention, _for now._

 

Kirishima glared, her kakugon burning, bright wings swept forward, sparking dangerously, _but_ \- they did not contain the light of a challenge. Was she only trying to defend him...? _What a waste!_ That kind of attitude got ghouls killed. An omega in heat could not be reasoned with, could not be stopped. Eto was the only one here who could hope to fend him off in this state. He'd devour them all and not shed a tear for days. Even Kishou would surely fall under his teeth.

 

The glare Kirishima gave her was intense and personal, her stance solid as she slowly began to edge around Eto. Closer to Kaneki. _Oh?_

 

Did the little Kirishima think that Eto had been taking advantage of him, of his lack of knowledge about ghouls, and had steadily groomed him to accept her? _She would be correct._ It was in her own defense, really. An unfamiliar ghoul would certainly be slaughtered by him - leading him to imprint on her as a mate candidate beforehand was the only way to survive his heat. It was a tried and true method.

 

If Kirishima expected to mate with him, she'd have to do the same.

 

Well, whatever. Kirishima's reason for being here mattered none. It was the effect of the squared off stalemate that had any merit.

 

Kishou, armed and sympathetic, stalled farthest away - Kirishima, an unknown, only twenty feet from Eto's side, _shit_ , _she was surrounded by long range ukaku_ \- Kaneki, still frozen in the throes of heat curled before her -

 

Another sound from the opposite side drew her attention. She spared a single eye -

 

Arima's darling Hirako and a small squad arrived in the wings.

 

_For fucks sake!_

 

Thankful that the hits she'd taken earlier had sobered her up some, Eto took the rapidly crumbling situation into her own hands. It was the worst thing she could do in this kind of situation, but _fuck_ if there was an easier way, at this point. Besides, one had to knock the pieces off the board before starting a new game.

 

She swiped at Kaneki.

 

Making an aggressive move toward him was like moving through ice, but she powered through. She'd barely nicked one of his heavy kagune before it exploded - a dozen - no, twenty - _more_ \- _hundreds_ of thin rinkaku tendrils unraveled from him, falling forward, shielding his body completely. A few managed to latch into her arm, slicing deep with razor edges as she bounced back, closer to the little doves. Eto bit through them quickly, then fended off the severed edges as they followed her movement, reacting blindly to her attack. The kagune formation closed off with a sound like steel, cocooning Kaneki entirely, cutting of his scent briefly.

 

There. One complication down. _For the moment._ His maturation would take a bit of time, now, and function as an incredibly strong shield.

 

A noise like static electricity gathered in Kirishima's corner. _How obnoxious._ Thankfully, that stamina wouldn't last long.

 

It might be better if it did, however.

 

Kirishima took a bold step forward, and Eto swung her body around to block her access to Kaneki, not quite taking enough eyes off of him to really care. What was the little human lover going to do? Toss another fire bomb her way? There had to be a bigger reason she was here. Maybe she'd called for whatever reinforcements they had running around the place. This was going to become more obnoxious than it needed to be, and fast.

 

Factions, groups, theater troops - Aogiri, Ayato; Kirishima and what, the revived Antique?; the freed ghouls from the cells; Kishou, as they still stood; V; the doves, everywhere in this mess of a nest; and Eto. And Kaneki. Most of those things could take care of themselves or pair off for internal annihilation. Couldn't they turn their attention to something else, like their ancient grudges and let her have her way for a bit?

 

All Eto had intended to do was engage Kaneki properly and then take her time mating with him. That was all. _Just one little thing._ And now there were all these ants running around the place, getting under her feet, trying to make moves.

 

Eto was glad for Kishou's restraint in withholding any more attacks on such a volatile battlefield - it gave her the opportunity to witness the final metamorphosis of Kaneki Ken. Kirishima was smart enough to hold herself back, as well.

 

The ominous sound of his kagune swelling open filled the entire space, echoing between the pillars. The thin strands thickened, growing to the size of the original two he'd been wielding, but the sheer _mass_ \- he almost rivaled Eto in size through the amount of heavy layering, rinkaku piled upon rinkaku. His kagune blossomed from him like an enormous flower, rising high above and curling forward, creating a solid shield. The innermost petals wavered, unfurling slowly, still guarding his body from sight.

 

From about halfway through the mass of petals, strange, sharp shapes rose up. Small shields? _How unique._ They branched out on thin stems, their smooth, curved faces settling into elongated diamonds. They glowed so fiercely red that it burned Eto's eyes to look directly at them. Nine? Six? It was hard to tell. They wavered and burned like after images, completely disorientating.

 

What were they? Eyes? Sensors? Weapons? Targets? To avoid or to focus on - _which which which_ \- Eto felt only delight in finding out the hard way.

 

Eto crouched low, all eyes on her target, as the final petals unfurled.

 

_Oh, how beautiful!_

 

No one else had dared to move, allowing Eto a personal, front row seat to the unveiling. Struck by the sight of him, _she_ could barely move.

 

The massive flowering of his glowing kagune had torn into his armor, wrenched it from his shoulders. _Torn the coat in half_. It hung around his hips from where it had been belted around his waist, but his top half was gloriously exposed, only a tight, long sleeved... thing... remained. Was it backless? _Nice_. It clung to his body, stretched around his fuller chest, pulled forward around his hips. Ah, something remained to be ripped off, after all! Many, many eyes drank in the tiny details laid out like a feast before her - the sharp curves of his collarbone, the thin fabric stretched tight around his heaving chest, exposing every shuddering exhale and the peak of his nipples - the slight plush of a few centimeters of fat that bubbled over the edges of the fabric open around his sides -

 

_She couldn't wait to see all of him.  
_

 

Slowly, with a slight wobble, Kaneki straightened up fully, and the expression he leveled at Eto was -

 

 _Absolute rage_. Eto shuddered in delight, hidden in her kakaju. No trace of memory remained in that expression; the silver of his eye had turned to cold steel, his uncovered kakugon radiating to match. The veins below his eye were darkened dramatically, streaked across his face. That kind of powerful marking looked _good_ on him. It looked even better with the heat mask Eto had etched into him underneath it.

 

Now _this_ was a being worthy of the throne.

 

This was the potential that Eto had been chasing, hunting patiently for months.

 

This was the perfect match to her own immense power, the perfect vessel to tempter both their strengths, to produce something even greater than themselves -

 

A snarl gathered slowly on his lips as he met her challenge. The single step he took forward, sending his heavy kakune shaking like chimes, like petals, like the most beautiful of weapons, made his power pulse like a physical pressure. Kirishima fell to her knees on the tile. The doves stumbled back.

 

Eto lowered herself further, prostrate before her omega, all else _gone_ from her mind, and keened, answering him, _begging_ him -

 

Narukami blasted through the top of his kagune formation, obliterating a few feet of his petals. He screamed, enraged by the damage, and the entire thing came violently alive. Every tentacle writhed as it healed, lashing out at everything in the wide hall, slamming into pillars and stabbing deep into the tile.

 

Eto dodged back, rising up to tower over him, fighting off the few kagune that targeted her. The shields rose up, trembling with violence, but made no move. Kaneki turned away from her, his attention stolen by - _fucking fuck dammit that shitty dumb Kishou, interrupting where he had no right in a_ ghoul's _business -_

 

The roar that tore from her throat echoed back, loud enough to shatter the glass on the open cell windows above the pillars.

 

The One Eyed Owl reached out with one great claw and slammed the weak interfering ghoul on the sidelines directly into Kaneki's face, offering a distraction to hold her mate's attention away from her true challenger, the real threat. She leapt around him, out of range of his attacks, and slammed into one of the cracked pillars. It began to topple, sliding into halves behind her as she jumped. It cracked through the floor, shattering the tile and opening a gaping hole as she landed before Kishou.

 

Either that or pure temperance held off Arima's little squad of obedient dogs.

 

_Would the white knight of death himself stop her? Would the White Reaper really stand in her way? Did the other half of a once crumbling throne intend to withhold his end of the bargain? Would Arima Kishou really try to stop her?_

 

 _No_.

 

Eto would kill him herself, if she had to. He raised Narukami again, face expressionless but eyes so sharp - a darker, flintier metal than Kaneki's, something like liquid platinum, like iron - but held his motion, waiting on her. She never wanted to disappoint, and it was impossible to _think_ like this - Eto leveraged herself out of her kakuja, crawled out from her own throat like some vile thing, and gave Kishou the courtesy of seeing her face one last time.

 

The thin, hard line of his mouth lent her no mercy. Her own mouth was courting scrambled, heat-strange. _Fuck, she still couldn't_ think!

 

"Kishou, Kishou, _Kishou! Don't stand in my way, don't you want the throne here, won't we make the perfect one eyed king?_ I'll give him my child, _it will be perfect!"_

 

"Eto, what is this?" The peace of his words, the ineffective, withheld expression - she had always hated that about him. Her mouth ran, her many mouths screamed.

 

"A prophesy, Kishou! The truth! _The perfect ending!_ Don't you understand? _Don't get in my way!"_

 

"This is not for the throne."

 

Those words scraped off his eyes, struck fire and bounced into her mouths, burning too close to the selfish core of her. Eto saw red.

 

"So what, so what! Who fucking cares, why can't I get what I want! The precious throne will be filled and the king will be dead and I will have what I want! Kishou - _don't you want to die?_ Don't you want to put an end to this shitty world? Bow your head, _you worthless Washuu."_

 

There was in immense satisfaction in the way his eyes finally narrowed, in the way he hefted Narukami. _Die, Kishou, die like you've always wanted to._

 

Eto reformed her kakuja around herself, readying for a battle, for something grand -

 

It floated across the destroyed hall, a whisper of sound, half choked, burrowing into Eto's keen ears - the voice she had been waiting to hear speak her name in ecstasy for _months_ -

 

_"Tou...ka?"_

 

If Eto's world had been red before, then she saw nothing now.

 

The _noise_ she made shook the fragile floor - another section of concrete was swallowed by the crumbling hole, a pillar cracked into pieces, the wobbling back of the hall tilted further on its supports -

 

Blindly, she swiped at Kishou, but the bitch dodged. _She didn't care._ She didn't care about him anymore.

 

Her jump cracked the floor further, as she launched directly into the side of Kaneki's wilting kagune. Eto clawed into the center, powering through the slicing tentacles, and used what was left of her arm to toss the offending, challenging, _interfering motherfucker_ away from her mate.

 

Kirishima took the blow, but caught herself in the air with her sputtering kagune, flapping enormous, burning wings once, twice - Eto opened her maw, aiming to _bite_ , but was swiftly beheaded before she could.

 

Kaneki, _again_. He'd just barely missed her once more. The damage Eto had already taken passively was building up. She formed her kakuja half way around herself - no, he knew where her true position was, it was pointless to try to hide from him anymore -

 

Eto took matters fully into her own hands.

 

She sent her kakune forward, bursting into branches, entwining hers with his before he could mob her again. They sparked off one another beautifully. She latched onto him with all her mouths and pulled his kagune back, revealing him completely.

 

Using the size of her remaining kakuja to gather power, she collided with him directly, grabbing onto his arms with her own hands and sending them both falling down into the space that had opened up under V.

 

Kaneki snarled at her, stunned, a dozen of his kagune escaping her grasp to spear into her kakuja as it clung to her back, wrapping like a vice -

 

Overhead, Eto's uninjured eyes witnessed Kirishima landing on one of the nearly vertical floor sections, a great ball of electricity spiraling between her raised wings.

 

The pain in her expression as she turned away from Kaneki and leveled her attack at the Reaper behind her -

 

The sound, the fury, the burning, blinding light of Narukami colliding with itself as the two great blasts met in the middle -

 

Eto had what she wanted. The younger generation could handle the rest.

 

_Long live the king._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;3c


	4. OM:ophagia

They fell.

 

The cavern hidden deep under V fed into the Sunlit Garden, and where any fall into such a hell would normally be dark, this was instead well lit. The white and tiles and pillars of V penetrated through the very crust of the earth to stain it the color of doves.

 

The Garden was wide and open, nothing but pillars all the way down to a vast sea of white flowers. It spread for miles, a distant doting of small houses lining one horizon, a slow fade to darkness lining the other. It festered under all of Tokyo.

 

Eto maneuvered around until her headless kakuja cushioned them both. The fall was long enough that she had plenty of time to crush him to her cut throat, to reach out with her own hands and grip tightly to his arms. Past the pitch black of Kaneki's hair, the last remnants of color faded away as the hole they had fallen through grew steadily smaller. White overtook her vision, invading her head with an almost painful suddenness.

 

The landing dazed the enraged snarl from his lips and left her ears ringing. Eto clung tight to her prize and pressed her advantage.

 

She dug her fingers into her mark on his shoulder, squeezing tightly, delighting in his gasping moan. _What unabashed volume!_ She wanted to hear the noises she drew from him ringing out for _days_. And what better stage than this? What better place to impregnate a hybrid, conceive a king, than underground, deep in the heart of the One Eyed King's territory, right under the Washuu's weak noses?

 

Reaching around his waist, she dug her other hand deep into his open kakuhou, tugging at his kagune from the root. His voice was choked silent, his whole body going still, wound tight as he pressed into her, arcing wonderfully into the onslaught of pleasure.

 

Eto detached fully from her kakuja in the distraction and rutted against him firmly, kneading more carefully against his slick shoulder. Since his arms were still trapped in the flesh of her kakuja, it was his kagune that sprouted up and stabbed into her sides, wrenching her off and tossing her away, before looping back to cut himself out. Healing easily from the damage, Eto backed away a good distance, quickly checking the area around them.

 

White and flowers. Houses far, far to the East. Eto was a little too horny for hermeneutics, but even so, the outpouring of bland white unsettled her eyes and did not impose any notions of purity on her psyche. Instead, the emptiness invited bloodshed in the way a canvas invited color.

 

Kaneki succeeded in freeing himself from her discarded trap and rose up shakily, crunching aggressively on some torn piece of kakuja. The stagnant air held his scent like water. Mixed with the scent of flowers, of rot, it truly did something to her.

 

Eto waited until he spotted her among the flowers, waiting, _waiting_ , an ecstatic joy rushing in her veins. Kaneki dripped her blood, still as the grave as he watched her like a predator, enthroned on the corpse of her strength - destroyed by him a second time.

 

 _Fuck_ , he looked good this way - cloaked in a stillness that promised violence, finally giving in to the true, beautiful nature of his ghoul half - the true beauty of an omega. A king.

 

The moment stretched for eternity, for a millisecond, for a year. Eto drew in a breath and _called_ for him, called out her courting, called out for her mate, and then -

 

Eto _ran_.

 

Kaneki chased.

 

It was a shame to leave her full kakuja and all the flesh she'd impulsively gathered behind, but she'd be compelled to hunt more later and she had stores, anyway. The kakuja that hunted her was held up on great spider's legs, stabbing into the soil as it followed her. She kept her speed in check - she didn't want to frustrate him or allow him to catch her too soon. She'd give in. She'd give in to him immediately, and ruin everything. Just a bit further - _a little longer_ \- and then -

 

He was faster than she thought he'd be. Their mad scramble through the Eclipse building had been kept as rapid as she could make it in such a disadvantageous terrain, and Kaneki had kept up and still had the time to cut at her. The length of his kagune gave him new reach, as well, and Eto found herself running at her true speed, something that had become rare for her. Her speed was enough to create a false wind, blowing back her hair, her thin prison garb, shredding flowers. It was _exhilarating_ \- her heart pounded and a joyful freedom rose up. No one had ever kept up with her before. She'd never had the opportunity to be the chased prey; it was amazingly invigorating. It was an actual challenge, a true race. _A hunt._ A laugh burst from deep in her lungs. _How wonderful! How perfect!_

 

Eto ran, spreading her heavy scent through the Garden, leading her mate on a courting hunt. They tore through the flowers, revealing the dirt beneath, as the false Sunlight began to fade. The pillars came closer and closer together, messy walls of stone and steel and kagune flesh rising up and twining around the landscape. Scent rushed back in - the familiarity of the 24th Ward was nearly soothing compared to the white, inflectionless hellscape receding behind them. It grew cooler as they descended.

 

Eto activated her kagune as they drew closer to the entrance to the Ward, and used it to reach ahead and open the flesh barrier. She didn't worry about Kaneki, and allowed it to fall closed behind her. He'd catch up in a moment - she needed the time to slam her arms deep into the side of the faintly warm tunnel and open up the passageways she wanted. One long, winding path deep underground, no branches to get lost in or invading ghouls to contend with. _Perfect_.

 

She took off down the new path as the entrance admitted Kaneki behind her.

 

He lowered himself to the ground and chased her on foot, the reach of his kagune too long in the cramped tunnels. Most of it still trailed behind him, a half closed flower shedding light like a red storm cloud.

 

Eto decreased her speed in the steady path, just a tiny fraction to allow him to chase more aggressively. A few of his kagune caught on the tatters of her prison garb, so she shed it fully.

 

Finally, finally, _finally_ , she skidded to an abrupt stop in the arena she'd prepared months ago.

 

It was an ancient relic of the underground people, the Tokyo ghouls of old, and all the more sacred for it. It had remained undisturbed for decades, only needing the debris and dust removed to be usable again. The scent of the last omega to court here was long gone. The marks of it were still embedded in the walls, lower than the intricate carvings on the light shedding dome high above. Rather than the false sun of the Garden, this was the real thing. The kagune of the ancient, sleeping King glowed dimly, pouring a tender light on the gray stone.

 

There were no flowers.

 

Only one thing could blossom in this place.

 

Eto opened her mouth wide and _called_ for him, as loudly as she could, one last time.

 

Kaneki careened around the last bend and extended one shield, piercing Eto's shoulder. She did not resist as she was propelled to the ground at the center of the arena, as she was jumped and straddled. The sound of her call still echoed, fading slowly. She didn't feel any pain; the thick scent of heat filled the huge room, setting her on fire even hotter than before, sending her whole body burning.

 

He snarled in her face, clutching her arms tight, his kagune still in her shoulder. The scent of her blood pleased his instincts somewhat, and he relaxed his hold on her arms a fraction. Feeling bold, feeling giddy and high and aroused and _so fucking smug_ , Eto braced her bare feet on the stone and used it to leverage enough space between them to thrust fiercely against him. His coat billowed around their legs, so she couldn't see what it looked like, but she could feel the softness, the thinness, of the cloth there. Could feel the incredible, burning heat of him, the soaking wetness. _Could smell it._

 

His pretty eyes went so wide and he arched atop her, his hands shooting up to clutch her mark on his shoulder, on his throat, tearing at the remaining fabric there. She did it again, more firmly, and dared to creep her hands forward, squeezing at his folded thighs. The kagune slipped from her shoulder. A little gasp tore from his mouth as his eyes closed, his body wavering - _fuck_ , he was completely _soaked_ for her, hot against her cock -

 

Kaneki shot forward, his hands cracking against the stone, looming over her. She could hear his claws, his nails, adding to the scores and scores of marks on the courting floor. The lighting turned him soft, made his silvery eye look liquid, made his kakugon glow. It faded the color of his heat mask, but made the faint luminescence of his omegan markings all the more visible. He wavered still, something flickering in his hazy eyes as he held her gaze, so _close_ she could taste her own blood on his breath as he panted - _yes, yes, yes, yes_ -

 

He gave in.

 

His bite _burned_ as he returned her mark - the neat space between her shoulder and her throat sparked with blinding pleasure under the heat of his mouth. A bone deep satisfaction coursed through Eto as she luxuriated in the tender pain of bonding, of mating, of marriage -

 

She moaned against his hair, humping him again, delighting in the feeling of the skin of his back as she wound her arms around him, blind to everything but the light of his kagune as it flowered above them, alight with her success. Nothing existed in this world save for him. Kagune fluid leaked from her shoulder, dripping heat onto the floor to match her hard cock.

 

Kaneki collapsed against her as he released her throat, shivering as she fingered his kakuhou none too gently. Pulling her sopping wet fingers from him, she shoved her hands under the sides of his suit and tore it open as well as she could with him laying on top of her. Then she tried to slide her hands down over his hips to get between his legs, but the _fucking coat was bunched up_ -

 

He finally seemed to understand her feelings on the matter, as he slowly pushed himself up to straddle her again, wrenching off the rest of his shredded top, ruffling his hair and revealing his body to her. His chest _bounced_ , almost as big as her own human-mimicing form, the nipples half stiffened into peaks and colored a sweet, rosy pink. Whatever he'd bound them down with had burst in the fighting. Eto's mouth watered, but a half formed thought distracted her - _the ring, was he_ -

 

She watched as his still gloved hands began tearing away the coat, taking the rest of the top and some of his pants with it. She caught his hand before he could stop her, pulling off the glove and helplessly making a weak noise in her throat at the sight of her ring on his finger. The gold of it glistened against the deep red of his kagune, the simple band so _elegant_ , beautifully matching the delicate taper of his claws. _Her promise on his flesh_ \- the noise quieted him, stilling the aggressive bite he'd been swooping back down for when she had moved. Still baring his teeth in a silent snarl, Kaneki paused, head tipping as he studied her. Allowing her to move.

 

Eto sat up slowly, cradling his palm in her hands, and kissed him there carefully, crooning softly.

 

This promise - she'd uphold it. With all her strength, all her virility, she'd give him her child. And on the day it quickened inside him, when she could lay her hands on his belly - four or five months big - and feel her child moving inside, feel its health and growing strength, verify that she'd kept her promise to him - she move this precious ring to his other hand and kiss him then, too. Kiss his swollen belly, kiss at the movements of her baby, kiss the milk heavy mounds of his breasts, kiss his soft mouth -

 

Eto shivered hard and laved her tongue against his palm, following it upward with her mouth, feeling his soft skin, his firm, lean muscle. She slipped one hand down and tugged the remnants of the coat fully away, a bit too vindictively. Kaneki knelt over her legs, watching her with sharp eyes, his mind long gone in his heat haze - as though he might still understand what all Eto's ceremony toward him meant by instinct alone. Her cock was _dripping_ just thinking of it, from swallowing his heavy heat scent, with the idea of him round and soft and _full of her_ planted firmly in her head -

 

The air was incredibly cold on her bare legs when she pulled them out from under him so she could reach up for a kiss. She went slowly, carefully, tilting her head to bear her marked throat to him. She was rewarded when he allowed the gentle contact, his mouth incredibly soft and warm, her own blood on his lips for a heartbeat. When he kissed her back, it went _rough_ \- he snatched her short hair, tugging her head back to correct the angle and bit at her mouth, lapping up the blood as a growl rolled up his throat.

 

He pushed her back down and ground against her, tossing her head away to finish ripping his pants off, finally exposing himself completely, save for the thin cloth stretched tight around his heavy thighs.

 

The kagune that had been fluttering gently above him flew into motion, stabbing down through the floor, wrapping like vices around Eto's limbs, holding her steady as he ground against her, drenching her cock instantly. The _sound_ he made at that was incredible, just as good in the amplified echo. Eto moaned - he was so, _so_ _soft_ , all plush warmth and slick, sliding pleasure - she was so _gone_ from his scent and the bonding that she couldn't even notice the feeling she was losing in her limbs, the few kagune that had impaled her.

 

All she could do now was watch - watch as he lowered himself slowly, _exquisitely_ onto her cock, watch as his eyes fluttered closed, his head rolling back on his round, strong shoulders - she could finally see him, fully, and greedily drank in the sight.

 

His hips had grown a little wide, and looked even bigger with how his legs were spread around her body, displaying how his thighs tensed up against her as he swallowed her cock whole. The heat was _incredible_ \- Eto's eyes rolled even as she wanted to keep seeing him, to see all the changes her careful courting had wrought on him. His cunt was so tight around her, but so impossibly soft and wet that she slid in easily, all the way to the root. The lack of sensation in her limbs made it all the more intense, all the more amazing.

 

_She was finally fucking Kaneki Ken._

 

She finally wrenched her eyes open, content to watch. Before she'd really begun to court him, before she'd been caught by his scent, she'd imagined taking him on his back once he was exhausted, of controlling the pace herself, fucking him soundly more than the initial violence he would lead them in with - but _this_. Made docile by his heat, held down by him, for him, watching him fuck himself on her - _oh_ , this was more than enough. His heat controlled her. His cunt controlled her. She'd give him whatever he wanted. What an empty headed alpha he'd made of her. What a wonderful mess he'd made.

 

The sight of him, of his body half-courted - his belly gone _soft_ , bloated where his fertile womb rested, the fuller shape of his chest, the flex and pull of his well trained muscles, the pink lips of his pussy spread around her - sent a jolt of lightening stronger than Ixa through Eto.

 

He began moving, bouncing steadily, pulling off of Eto's cock half way before dropping back down again, taking her back in completely each time. She was so close to cumming already - his hands were the only other thing she could feel, two hot brands over her hips where he rested his weight on her. It was so little, and still almost _too much_ -

 

A sudden squeeze around her cock as he tightened undid her. Eto screamed, arching in her bonds, cumming fiercely -

 

She barely activated her kagune in time. Kaneki's shocked moment of stillness afforded her the opportunity. The kagune around her tightened painfully, stabbed into her. He tore violently at her kagune as she guarded her throat, slamming down more aggressively on her cock from a new angle, snarling around mouthfuls of her kagune. Somehow, this angle was even _better_ ; he felt even tighter, squeezing constantly, and she could feel the head of her cock slamming against him, deep inside.

 

She'd done her duty and come inside, but there was no way he would be satisfied by just that. This, at the least, was the worst part.

 

It took too long for Eto to come down from her orgasm, and all the stinging pain in her limbs rushed in with it. The floor was hard and sapped the warmth from her skin. Every one of his motions on top of her sent her back cracking against it. Her kagune fluid made it a little more bearable but also more slippery and less of a secure rhythm. She winced, but didn't attempt to move when he was already enraged. _It was fine, she'd heal._ The steady vibration of his deep growl kept her still, anyway, inducing a deep obedience in her hindbrain. He pushed so strongly against her kagune that he was close to breaking it with force alone - he slammed down on her still hard cock with the same pressure. A fresh wave of arousal trickled in - Eto couldn't wait to cum again.

 

Kaneki released her kagune with a gasp, pulsing rhythmically around her, the growl cutting out in favor of a loud moan as he orgasmed around her, sinking all the way down. He rested fully against her, all his weight steady on her chest as his kagune dissolved slowly. It sent up sparks, making her own shoulder ache in response, and the warm fluid dripped down his sides and slid off her skin.

 

Eto slowly clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to get feeling back. Her healing wasn't what it used to be, but perhaps his heat had accelerated it - it barely took a few moments before she felt fine again.

 

She reached up slowly and gently smoothed over his back, stroking through the mess of fluid and holding him steady as she worked to sit upright. His head lolled against her neck, his mouth finding her mark to worry, but with the full bonding, promise, and first mating, his heat was sated - for now.

 

She slipped out of him slowly, grimacing at the cold, and replaced her cock with her fingers to distract him. He stiffened at the change, but his kagune wouldn't be able to form again unless he was actually in danger, so Eto was less concerned. A moan slipped from her throat when he bit lightly at her mark, sending a sweet jolt through her, making her cock twitch.

 

Eto curled her fingers gently, slowly exploring him, while she built her kakuja up around them. This place had served its purpose; they'd fought less than she had assumed they would and without his monstrous kagune to make room for, they could go somewhere more comfortable. She'd miss the beauty of it, the light of it, but now the only threat was his teeth, his unsatisfied appetite. Those things were easy enough to rectify.

 

The one eyed owl sped through the tunnels, the flesh parting, guiding her through, remembering her from her childhood, from the work she'd put in there during the courting. She knew where her nest was, so it was easy to turn her attention to Kaneki.

 

The heat of him was incredible, the plush softness of his pussy addictive to the touch. Turning and stroking her fingers, she cataloged all the places that made him gasp, made him whimper. Her own cum slicked the way inside him, filled his belly, calmed the drive of his heat. The pressure of his legs wrapped around her, the absent pricking of his claws - oh, this was even better than she'd imagined. This had been worth it, interruptions and all.

 

She tucked her head against him, breathing in his scent, delighting in how thoroughly he reeked of her now, delighting in the way he nuzzled back, clinging to her just as tightly. This respite wouldn't last long, Eto knew. Hidden by the strength of her own kakuja, clinging so tightly together, the connection of their bond - it felt wonderful.

 

_Mated._

 

The last wall finally parted, depositing them into a much larger space just as he was beginning to recover too much.

 

The feeling of her kakuja dissolving fully was a bit disorientating: she usually left it to rot and replenished herself later, since the mass was so great. But faced with _heat_ \- conserving all her resources and strength would be in her best interests.

 

Kaneki landed neatly, finally letting go of Eto's shoulder, distracted enough by his surroundings to loosen his hold on her. To be fair, anyone who saw the underground city for the first time had that reaction. The ghoul's Tokyo usually had that effect on people.

 

Cum glistened on his legs, her blood dark on his mouth, her mark, huge and possessive, marred his pale skin. He raised his clawed hand and lapped at Eto's blood, a considering look on his face as he observed the expanse of the city. The light of the King poured over his shoulders, made his black hair shine. The markings on his face reacted to the stronger presence, brightening enough to glow steadily in the dimness. _What a vision._

 

Eto went ahead of him, keeping out of range so he couldn't force her down again - although she honestly wouldn't mind such a thing, _but_ \- and began to lead him deeper into Tokyo. It took a moment for his narrowed eyes to drift back to her, and just his warning expression almost had her pausing, her foot half raised behind her. Instead, Eto began walking at a careful, slow pace, keeping her body turned toward him in offering.

 

His claw slipped from his mouth and he seemed to consider her blood for a moment before finally following. The predatory prowl made his hips sway  catching Eto's attention dangerously, but she forced herself onward by autopilot.

 

The city was still amazing, even after all these years. Shops and skyscrapers still stood, grayed and strange under the King's power, but sturdy and sheltering. Old wiring ran between houses, tangled in a few alleys where poles had collapsed. Silence filled Tokyo like a physical presence.

 

A piece of the King blocked their path through a road, huge and deep red and covered in peacefully closed eyes. It stood nearly a story tall, filling in the space of an alleyway completely, resting snug against the buildings on either side. Eto jumped up to scale it at her full speed, not allowing Kaneki any chances to attack, and waited at the top for him to follow. It buzzed beneath her bare feet, the lingering RC crawling through it like electricity.

 

As soon as he dug his claw into the flesh, she jumped down the other side. Something knocked into her foot, a metal scrap of some sort, that bounced and clattered and echoed down the empty street. If there were any ghouls hidden nearby they were smart enough to stay hidden from the two kakuja putting out warning scents thick enough to cover the street, strong enough to rival the King.

 

Kaneki's head appeared over the top, and she took off again.

 

Three blocks passed by in a blur before the magnificent entrance to her den appeared. Well, it was theirs now. Some great omega of old had this grand structure erected - it was settled between two skyscrapers, long as a block itself. The whole city appeared to spiral out from this location. The architecture was unique, different than the human buildings closest to it, all ghoulish simplicity and rounded edges, a mimic of the courting arena made elegant, refined. Dark glass filled the windows, completely intact from Eto's scavenging of other buildings, ensuring perfection.

 

An enormous piece of the King backed it, rising up a story above the rounded roof. 

 

Thickly scented bushes buffered it on the other three sides in once stately lawn, now hugely overgrown and mostly dead. Sharp, thorny branches entangled fresh leaves and fire colored flowers, creating a natural gate that guarded every inch of the beautiful, ancient building. Nothing but dark red stone and black windows filled Eto's sight, soothing her eyes from the ashy, dove grays and whites of the Garden, of the prison, of the threat of doves.

 

She ran through the path she'd cleared to the huge, circular door and tossed it open, her eyes adjusting to the comfortable darkness as she sped through the many entrance chambers. Parlors, hallways, empty rooms rocketed past as Eto dove straight for the heart of the lavish building. Somehow, her already pounding heart picked up a notch. This den - she hoped he liked it. So much time had been spent here during their courting; everything they could want for, every pretty thing she thought he'd like, any small gift she could get her hands on -

 

His footsteps pounded after her, echoing across the intricate tiles.

 

Eto threw the last door open, the bright red door to the inner chambers, and stepped into the wide, short hallway. Open rooms lined with carved wooden walls filled each side, each one fitted with empty furniture. Pieces of the King had been harvested, cultivated to grow up through hidden panels in the walls that lead them to rest in the honeycomb of the ceiling. Intricate markings covered the smooth kagune, pieces of the past, of the history of the King before they succumbed to their strength and destroyed Tokyo.

 

Likely, the powerful omega who had reigned here had been one of the King's offspring. Perhaps even born from that very ceiling. The spiral scar at the center certainly looked like the exit wound of a birth.

 

A huge, open circle on a short dais acted as a doorway into the omega's personal den. The simple, enormous pillars that curved around it were bright red, elegant in their grand scale. Eto had already opened the stone privacy doors behind them most of the way. Only a thin strip of light filtered inside. There were no windows, no pieces of the King.

 

Eto stood in the gap between the doors, facing the hall. She did not have to wait long before Kaneki appeared.

 

His eyes found hers as though by magnetism, narrowed and fierce as he stood, framed by the beauty of the entranceway. It suited him - this unearthly place. Eto tried to catch her breath, tried to temper the delighted beam, but failed on both accounts.

 

A single blink covered the span of time between then and finding herself tackled bodily into the huge nest inside the doors.

 

The annoyed growl he'd begun building up cut off as they sank into the soft blankets, as Eto wrenched the doors closed behind him with a hand of her kagune, plunging them into darkness lit only by the glow of their kakugon, a single pair of eyes between them, and the light of his markings. The sound the doors made as they cracked together was tremendous, deafening, _final_.

 

Eto watched his pupil dilate, swelling huge as he panted. She luxuriated in the suffocating scent of him, thick as water, thick as honey, rutting up against him as he held her down in his nest, trapped like a spider in the web of something bigger, like a snake in the claws of an owl. He surged forward, biting at his mark on her increasingly sensitive shoulder and met her thrust for thrust, dripping heat.

 

Eto could barely breathe. It was wonderful.

 

Until his heat let out, there would be no leaving this place. Eto could only trust in her courting, trust in her promise, to keep her alive, trapped here with him. She would do anything to see this through. Anything.

 

_Anything._

 

* * *

 

 

 _Heat,_ Eto has decided, _is the best and worst thing she’s ever submitted herself to_. Not even her first sound defeat at the hands of Kishou had left her this drained and aching. _The end result will be worth it, though. The end result -_

 

Kaneki was going to be _so_ _beautiful_ in the coming months. _Eto_ would make him beautiful – mother-heavy and rounded through, with all her strength tucked away inside him, blossoming into something even greater than either of them, something amazing, something wonderful.

 

The baby – _Eto’s child_ – will make him so _soft;_ quiet the barren ache driving his teeth, quell the pain in his filling belly, allow her to come closer to him without his teeth meeting her flesh. One day, months and months from now, he’ll be tucked against her in this nest, purring over the kicking of her child inside him.

 

But that will be in the far future. Currently, Eto was suffering from underestimating his stamina greatly, and dealing with the punishment he dealt her for not being able to keep up well enough to satisfy him. Thankfully, her gambit of being the only mate candidate around had paid off in full and made him reluctant to kill her, even for her unintentional negligence toward him.

 

His teeth had been embedded in her shoulder for some time now, and a few slow healing bites littered her one arm. What blood he didn’t swallow oozed down her neck, into the ends of her hair. An unceasing growl rolled from low in his throat, keeping her awake through the fear in her dizzy hindbrain. It was a small price to pay, considering how viciously he’d torn into the corpse she’d all but thrown at him a few – two? three? - hours ago when she desperately needed a break. The amount of meat in the closet in the back of the room had dwindled dangerously low and if Eto wasn’t so entirely mentally dead she’d be more worried about that.

 

She wasn’t much older than Kaneki, really, in the scope of a ghoul’s potential lifespan, so this was the first time she honestly felt _not as young as she used to be_. Granted, they were both wild cards as far as lifespans went, but Eto had the sneaking suspicion that he’d at least live a fairly long time. If nothing else, it felt like he had personally sucked a good few years off her life through her dick in the last three days.

 

Eto had never once resisted him – there wasn’t a _point_ , when this was what she wanted, and it became in her best interests later on for the sake of survival – save to force him to eat something that wasn’t her. She’d been able to sneak a few scraps herself while he was distracted in feasting, and only one heartstopping moment of instinct driven fear had occurred when he’d almost caught her. He recovered too quickly to allow her to leave for a hunt and as a result was fiercely territorial of what meat there was. Hopefully, he’d pass out soon anyway, before he decided that she hadn’t done well enough hunting for him or they ran out of food. Or he grew to like the taste of her blood better.

 

She hadn’t resisted, and had done well enough to please him so far, which was why she had kept the arm at all.

 

Kaneki had just never let up. There didn’t seem to be such a concept left anywhere in him. His first heat had struck with all the rage of a burning fire and he was lost to it. It was exactly what Eto had been hoping for, but still – _holy fuck._

 

Wincing, she dared to shift a little underneath his weight, keeping her upper body still where he was latched on to her with his teeth and claws and nails. He’d stopped dripping so much, wasn’t as sopping wet as he had been a day ago, and the drier slide felt strange. The heat drenched scent of the room was suffocating; every breath of it left less and less room for conscious thought in Eto’s head. The blanket beneath her was getting stiff from her blood drying on it and _good fucking gods her dick hurt._ The numbing scent of his heat and her own alpha hormones kept her from really feeling any true pain, but his constant ferocity still left her feeling distinctly chafed. And more than a little lightheaded.

 

She’d meant to fill him up completely, but had failed to consider how it would feel to be so drained. How _giving_ meant having less for herself. It really did feel like she was dying, like he was devouring her slowly, taking everything she had to offer up to him as sacrifice and then pressing for _more_. She’d already tried to appeal to him through desperate whining and had been soundly bitten for her trouble. The shock of pleasure from that had shot through her like a bolt of lightening, as a second mark marred the same side of her sensitive throat.

 

 _Oh, how wonderful!_ Even deep in heat and enraged, Kaneki only sought to claim her as his mate, to subdue her impetuousness, to _keep_ her. The feeling of such a possessive claim had renewed her energy, allowed her to wrap her arms tightly around him and take over the rhythm for a round. Eto might have passed out afterword, and woken to him riding her still, or she might be confusing memories.

 

His heat was not over; there would be no stopping.

 

But victory still sung sweet in her veins, and the triumph of having him clinging so tight to her, the knowledge, the instinctual fulfillment, of filling his starving belly with herself, with her own power, kept her in a good, if foggy, mood. Kept her placid and obedient to his every merciless thrust. Kept her hands glued to his belly, kneading gently at the swelling curve there. He’d been just a little soft to begin with - the natural, fertile curvature of an omega in heat – but now -

 

Heat and her own weakness made him feel so, _so warm_ – fever hot and silken soft against her skin – made it impossible not to touch him, not to touch his soft stomach. The firmer, fatter curve beneath her palms felt distinctly swollen, cradled gently in her small palms. Whatever happened now, he was certainly full of her.

 

He’d wake from this heat fully satisfied, made too round by her to deny his fertility, made too _big_ to ignore the certainty of pregnancy. It would be a while before any true symptoms showed, but his changed body would make it easy to keep her at his side, keep him leaning on her. Keep him needing her, accepting her.

 

Keep him wanting her close, guarding him and supporting him, when his belly inevitably started to grow. When Eto’s child needed to be fed.

 

 _Eat me,_ Eto thought, delirious and delighted, as Kaneki stilled atop her, finally freeing her shoulder from his jaws, releasing the firm grip on her arms, as a painfully dry orgasm built up again. She nuzzled against his hair, drawing a sigh from him. The squeeze of his cunt around her was less violent than before, still fluttering and milking her, but not clamping down hard, trapping her inside him. _Eyes, he was so warm._ The pressure still felt amazing, even totally overstimulated. Eto shuddered weakly, barely able to cum anymore, but went blissfully unpunished for it, although her own body disagreed and she might have blacked out for a second anyway.

 

Kaneki collapsed on her fully, panting softly against her neck, allowing her to slip out of him finally. The low growl he’d been holding her down with tapered off. It seemed he was finally flagging. _Good_. Eto might have tried to wriggle away and escape for a bit, but he’d driven her to exhaustion and she honestly didn’t think she could move if she tried. The warmth and weight of his body pressed her down into the softness of the nest, clouding her overwhelmed senses with a primordial comfort that forced her to finally drift into a desperate sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

When Eto woke some time later, it was the first time she had been able – _allowed_ – to wake slowly, instead of being rutted against or already penetrating him as he rode her impatiently. Kaneki had kept a zero tolerance policy towards her in regards to everything save fucking.

 

She cracked open one eye slowly, trying to see where he was laying in wait for her this time. The chamber was nearly perfect in its darkness, but Eto could still make out movement and shapes in deep hues of gray. Kaneki’s bright markings was still the only light – his heat and the constant exertion had prevented Eto from even thinking about lighting a fire.

 

He glowed from beside her, lighting up the folds of the blanket under his cheek. Eto slowly turned her head, hardly daring to breathe, and watched his slow, steady breaths for a moment. The markings on his face had solidified into neat lines, with a small half moon under each eye and long branches spreading out from them, curving around his cheeks to trace down his throat. The smaller, more personal marks of his strength were coming in slowly, less distinct yet. For now, he slept peacefully.

 

Had it really taken three days to exhaust him? Had the oasis of his heat finally struck? _Could Eto actually hope to use her legs enough to put it to good use?_

 

 _Yes, yes she could_. It took a few minutes of slow, careful movement to get out of the nest, but Kaneki didn’t so much as stir while she wobbled on weak knees. _Yes. Freedom._ A day’s respite honestly meant the world to her right now.

 

She felt. Crusty. _That was unpleasant_. The sweat and blood and fluid clinging to her skin was stupidly satisfying to her fucked out alpha brain, but intellectually nasty. She had both a hunger headache and the floating numbness of a pheromone high, which combined into a deeply unsettling feeling of anxiety and general physical and mental exhaustion. Just being able to walk around was the best thing in the world. Already feeling recovered just from not being fucked senseless for a change, Eto stopped pacing aimlessly around the nest and started rooting around for more substantive scraps, just in case.

 

There really was nothing left? On one hand, that was impressive, and her first instinct was pride – she’d hunted exactly as much as her mate needed, and had kept him well fed when he needed it most, but on the other – he must have been truly starving. It put his restraint in only biting her a few times into a new perspective. She shuddered with something akin to delight.

 

After she had rested for a while and enjoyed her time unmolested, she’d go hunting. The Garden had probably already scavenged her kakuja and all the corpses she’d dragged down, but there was a chance, however slight, that it had been declared Unclean and left alone. That would help immensely; a little decay added flavor and wouldn’t hurt anything. If not, then she’d have to quickly hit the surface and hit it hard. It was all too likely that another three days of intense heat were coming on the heels of this brief recovery period, even though it was his first, and now she knew what to expect of his honest appetite.

 

Instinct kept her trapped for a long moment. She didn't need to stand guard, this den was safe, she'd ensured it already, but still - Eto watched over him in his sleep like a good alpha, like a good mate, until she felt gross beyond what satisfaction could bring. There was no time for a vigil; she had to hunt.

 

Keeping quiet, she padded to the sealed doors and eased them open a crack.

 

The massive stone doors had kept his heat scent from leaking into the space beyond, and the clearness was almost painful in comparison. Eto had to cover her eyes for a moment, unused to the low light, until she could squint well enough to see the larger chamber. Eto stepped out of the room slowly, stretching her sore arms wide, naked and comfortable. _Eyes,_ she could feel the absolute mess of her hair, tangled on top of her head like a dense little cloud. A shower would be wonderful, actually. Thank goodness she'd kept her wits enough for extremely thorough premeditation.

 

While his scent was still heavy on her, she felt more clear headed than she's been in - honestly, it felt like years. So many burdens had been cut from her shoulders.

 

Aogiri, floating free. The throne fulfilled. Takatsuki Sen put to rest. Her part in the One Eyed King's legacy secured. No deadlines. No silent gazes from Kishou...

 

Eto felt weightless. Unmoored, but with her once tied hands unbound and gripping tight to a sturdy paddle.

 

It was a feeling close to death, not of hopelessness, but of the tender, depthless kind that would allow only for freedom from the sorrows of life.

 

Yoshimura Eto might just be happy, for the first time in her life.

 

Here, in this dark, hidden place were only ghouls roamed, where there was only one author and one reader, it was safe and free and unwatched.

 

Kaneki was still asleep in the nest, a pale, exhausted pearl tucked into the center of an enormous dark shell, and the tiny sliver of light that cut across his face seemed to glow after so long in the secluded chamber. She eased the door closed carefully.

 

There was a short hallway between the sleeping chambers and the bath. The window at the back of the house that was the hallway wall was overtaken entirely by the piece of the King behind the house; it glowed a steady, stormy color close to red, painting the enclosed hall in the shades of a violent sunset. A balcony had once been there, but the King had destroyed it. The glass door, so neatly made that it was near invisible in the glass of the wall, only opened a scant two inches before hitting the side of the unresponsive King.

 

This castle had been constructed sometime between the initial decade of ghoul control of Tokyo and the collapse of society when the humans sealed the sky, angering the King into a frenzy that lasted three days. Or three years. Noro had taught Eto the rare and precious history of their kind when she was a child, but all of those words had blurred together in the converging voids of death and silence and a lost, lonely world.

 

With her hands behind her back, she observed the King. A massive mouth spiraled around the bulk of it, closed and dry, but the thorny tips of huge teeth peaked through where the kagune was thin or where the seams didn't align correctly. If it unwound, that mouth would span the size of about two blocks. There may have once been neighbors on the other side of the house.

 

After a long, silent moment, she looked away easily and carried on.

 

The ceiling stretched all the way to the dome, where a single, dusty chandelier hanged down. The electricity was still off. That was a harder fix than what Eto could do on her own time.

 

The bath, however, worked perfectly. The pipes between Tokyo below and Tokyo above were still connected; all it took was to reopen those connections through the existing valves and then let it go until it ran clear through the pipes. Perhaps someone on the surface would be paying their water bill. Eto hoped it was the Washuu, but most likely it would be a tiny increase for a whole ward. No one would notice. And they certainly couldn't do anything about it. Although Eto wouldn't mind if they sent down some humans to try.

 

The bath door matched the outer chamber door; less ostentatious, less enormous than the inner chamber, but all were still clearly parts of the same set. The red of it matched the sunset glow, and the alcove of the circular door offered a feeling of privacy.

 

The tile inside - well. Eto had splashed water around and drained the bulk of the dust away, but it wasn't spotless, wasn't the shining glory it must once have been, some unknown decades ago.

 

The floor was black, and the small tiles of it flowed up the sides of the massive bath at the back of the open room and the smaller private tubs closer to the door. Unlike the mates private chambers, these did not align neatly with the wall, but were spread out in the space in a loose checker pattern. Plenty of space between them still left the floor open, but also gave the perfect arrangement of both personal space and familiar closeness.

 

A few were recessed into the ground and half lined with green stone benches while the other half raised up a few feet and had sitting ledges inside. The walls and high ceiling were white, and many thin, tall windows allowed the King's Sun to filter in brightly. The only shower heads were in the wall behind the large tub, which was approximately the size of Eto's apartment. Although they had stood for so long, the water had been off and there was little rust. Eto had let them run through, and the color the water had initially come out had been disgusting.

 

However, when she turned one on now, it only jerked a few times before spraying clean water. The temperature dial had evaded her understanding and she didn't feel like messing around with it now. Besides, she'd grown up with cold water. It was fine.

 

She hadn't noticed how hot she was until then. It felt like the last residue of heat was being scraped of her skin, washed from her hair, cooled from her body.

 

The soap she'd stuck in the cabinet was a brand sold by one of the Tsukiyama Cooperation's supported businesses. It was scentless and strong enough to remove traces of blood. Once they'd gone under, Eto had hoarded a bulk crate of the stuff and was now extremely glad of it.

 

There had been little reason for her to consider the cost of furnishing a home before this - all her stuff had been slowly gained over the years or gifted by Shiono. Soaps, towels - dishes because there were some luxuries Eto wasn't willing to give up, but her own plastic children's plates were too old and a bit embarrassing to bring to a place like this - good knives, candles, matches, piles and piles of new bedding to nest with, book shelves, cleaning supplies, small furniture, mattresses - things for a baby -

 

Eto was glad of the frugal attitude she'd held before. Housing a mate was expensive. She was glad to do it, to be able to do it. There was something about _providing_ and _sheltering_ that made her dumb alpha brain go a little fuzzy, like the mere act of purchasing a full dishware set was supposed to earn her a headpat. Or sex. Or something. 

 

 _It will be your duty,_ Noro had said in their solemn, whisper soft voice, placing each word gently in her hands like feathers, like seeds - _to pay back even the smallest fraction of what you are given. Use your strength to support them, to help shoulder their burden._ Of course, that bit of more generic romance had proceeded the biology lesson - to which a young Eto, awed by the idea of changing someone else's body, of implanting something into another as an act of love, had responded with a bland _that's kind of gross_.

 

With only a small towel on her hair, she wondered back to the outer chambers and entered the personal room she'd chosen.

 

Closest to Kaneki's door on the left hand side and marginally larger then other three on the same wall, it was the preferred room for one of two favored mates, but Kaneki didn't know that. It was technically supposed to be given as a gift, but Eto went ahead and gifted it to herself.

 

Once someone else told him, he probably wouldn't mind.

 

Eto planned to painstakingly drag her book collection down from her old apartment - the CCG was almost _irreverently_ sloppy in how they handled the vacated apartments of ghouls, honestly, but it would allow her to keep the book collection she'd actually found herself missing somewhat.

 

Perhaps she'd become used to her human life, to the human objects she'd clung to.

 

She also wanted her computers, laptop, and a few games. Useless currently, yes, but she intended to fix that eventually. It felt nice, to fill in the empty spaces of this empty castle.

 

The familiar objects of home would line the walls here and helped keep down the echoes. But not yet. She was on a time crunch, here.

 

Eto lounged on her wonderfully supportive, hard mattress, physically feeling the kinks in her back straighten out as she stretched. Kaneki's nest had been wonderful, but all the sinking, plush layers just weren't her preferred sleeping arrangement. If she hadn't had bigger concerns during his heat, she would have been more worried about the state of her spine after all that.

 

Whatever. Eto had time to relax now; he'd sleep for most of the day, riding out some of his heat exhaustion. It gave her some time to recover, at least. But first, it would nice to -

 

 Completely, blissfully exhausted, Eto fell asleep.


	5. OM:en

Eto awakens sharply in an unfamiliar halfdarkness, confused by the shapes rising up around her and the unsettling lack of scent on the sheets she lay on.

 

She raises her head weakly and screws her eyes shut against the silver glow of - of the King. Oh, right. The King.

 

The towel she'd been under goes flying as she scrambles up from the bed in the outer chambers, disorientated and horrified. _How long has it been? What kind of idiot was she? Fuck, if he woke up -!_

 

She holds her breath, staring at the ominously still door to the omega's chamber. She creeps up carefully and eases it open a tiny crack, preparing to release her kagune if anything moves. Nothing happens. Kaneki still lay asleep in the nest, one of the many blankets pulled messily over half of his body. The sheer heat and density of his scent that leaks from the barest crack in the door makes Eto wilt. Oh, she wants to go snuggle him, drench herself in his scent until the obnoxious reality of higher thought processes ceases to exist, and then fuck into oblivion. _Again_.

 

_Yes._

 

But first, she has to hunt. Now.

 

There was no telling how long she'd accidentally let herself sleep for, so she wastes no time in racing back to the Garden, rocketing through the underground. No changes have come to the stagnant underground in the last three or four days. To her absolute joy, a mound appears on the unending horizon, edged in a golden glow.

 

Her kakuja has been quarantined with a candle vigil, the corpses clumsily stuck to it more or less intact. They have not even begun to rot, something that Eto only distantly notes, but discards in favor of accepting the first lucky break she's been given. The thought is in and out of her head in a second.

 

She always disliked reattaching to discarded kakuja - it just became slimy and brittle as the RC degrades, but the influx of new cells and her own power reinvigorates the shell of her monster, and she is soon up, shaking off the disorientation and heading back to her den.

 

Eto drops the corpses off in the hall, then stares at them, still trying to figure out how to have intelligent thought. Was that enough? It was about the same as last time, and hopefully he would need less now, now that he had eaten well. _Good. Great. Perfect. Mission complete. Time to sleep._

 

With the meat closet refilled and the door safely shut, Eto feels more secure. The heavy, smothering scent of the chamber fills her lungs entirely, warming her through and pushing a purr out of her throat. The water in the basin at the back of the chamber is blissfully cold and clear, the long lost taste of the 24th ward's well water relaxing Eto's stiff muscles further.

 

She eats, finally clearing the last of the lightheaded haze from her brain, and settles happily back into the nest, nuzzling up to her warm mate, content to relax while she can.

 

* * *

 

 

When Eto next wakes, it is to darkness. This is familiar now. The scent that floods her lungs brings such a bone deep, heavy satisfaction that a purr flows out when she sighs, and she basks in the soft nest. _Their_ nest; their scent, their darkness.

 

Except - _it shouldn't be this dark._

 

Eto cracks her eyes open and squints, making sure not to move or give the appearance of being awake just yet - although that hasn't really stopped him before. But the light of his markings evades her sight - almost completely. A small flash appears in the darkness above her, the faint red of his eye, just for a bare second. She becomes aware all at once that it isn't a blanket sitting heavy across her hips, but Kaneki.

 

Her night vision isn't the strongest, and with the light hidden like this - Eto is laying blind in the den of a very aggressive, very heated omega. That should not be such a thrill, probably, but.

 

She allows her purr to pick up, keeping obediently still, and waits. After a few seconds, the light of his marks pour back in around the silhouette of his hands. The blanket he's covered his body markings with falls back from his shoulders. _Is he really aware enough right now to do such a thing? That. Might not be good._ In general or maybe just for Eto.

 

If he's starting to turn hunting behavior on her then - she'll have a choice to make, won't she? _This is why they keep harems, Eto. That is the normal nature of things, here. Stupid little ghoul. Thinking too much like a human, again?_

 

Obviously, she's put far too much effort and narrative weight and semen in him to undo all of that in any way, but her death here would mean a heavy dosage of guilt that would keep him on her throne, keep her child safe. Former Plan A, now Plan B. If she were to abandon him in his heat - even lacking the instincts of a ghoul, he would probably never forgive such a thing. That would be hard to achieve without leading back into her death, anyway. _Fuck, maybe she should have kept another alpha around to tap out with._

 

Odd, that she wants to live.

 

But she does, to her own surprise. She wants to see this through to the climax, not with all her heart, but with the curiosity of an author following an inspiration to its tail.

 

His hands settle on either side of her ribs in the nest, and he rests his weight more fully on her body, leaning closer, radiating warmth. Smears hot slick on her skin. The markings that fill her sight look complete, now. The lines are stark and clear, a neat geometry tracing down from his eyes in solid lines to curl in waves around his throat, the organic perfection broken only by her mark on him. The wide bite curves from below his jaw down into his collarbone, part of the constellation of luminescence that marks him as an omega. The only tether keeping her alive.

 

Eto waits, breathless in the silver dark, as he edges closer. This - he hasn't moved so slowly before. Hasn't paid her so much attention without pain. Hasn't been - looking down at her, like that. His eyes are hooded, expression calm. Eto doesn't dare move, even though the thrill of it has her heart pounding.

 

Kaneki slowly comes closer, tips his head gently. Fits his mouth softly, _softly_ against her throat, above the sensitive scarring of all the other marks he's lent her. _Oh fuck,_ is all Eto has time to think, her cock jumping sharply, before he bites down.

 

The oasis has left her clear headed enough that she can easily feel the endorphin rush all through her body, feel the intense point of contact morph from delightful pain to dizzying pleasure. The already heavy pull of the tether between them swells further, taking over her vision, drawing a low, keening moan from her as she wraps her arms around him. Tugs closer, closer, _more_.

 

If he tore her throat out right now, she would probably just cum.

 

But he releases her instead. Laps at her blood while she shivers through the little shock of not-healing, the new brand so high on her jaw - a possessive, fierce mark. Claiming. _Territorial._

 

Ah - Eto's done something right, then. Been such a _good_ mate - filled him up completely, kept him sated, kept him satisfied - that he just wants to claim her. And claim her, and claim her, and claim her. Maybe some wires got crossed between human possessiveness and omegan territorial guarding. Eto's never seen an alpha with more than one mark from the same omega. She can't feel anything but pride: she's dizzy with it.

 

His hot tongue follows the blood up her cheek to her mouth. The kiss she purrs into is so languid, so intense, she looses herself in it fully. Just lays obediently, feeling everything he lets her feel. Swallowing up all the tenderness he's afforded her, greedy for it, but equally unsettled in a way she can't quite identify.

 

Trying to thrust against him gets a hand around her neck. Presses her down into the softness of the nest, held down while Kaneki draws back from her. It's - pressure, right against her marks. Fuck, it feels so good that she does it again. This is all too - too gentle. She's drowning in Kaneki's heat, her own weak rut keeping her going, and every instinct she has is screaming at her. She should be bleeding more, loosing more. She wants more and more and _more_ -

 

Instead, he allows her her movement, then maneuvers to meet her there. The puddle of slick on her belly should have been a hint, but it still shocks her to feel the dripping wetness of him - he feels even wetter than the first round, somehow. _So tight. So soft.  
_

 

Eto reaches out, squeezes at Kaneki's hips, traces the thinner lines running around his body with trembling fingertips. The fuller plush of his hips, his thighs, squishes wonderfully where she grabs at him, dips delicately where his markings stretch his skin. Eto is surrounded completely by softness - the nest melds with his flesh around her, with his cunt, reduces Eto's whole world to the heat and press and give of his body. It's so good, she's dizzy.

 

Oh. No, she's just getting light headed. She manages to turn her head to the side under his grip and get in a breath. A low growl stills her in that position, but his hand stays lax, doesn't push her down further, doesn't punish her for it. This soft treatment is doing something to her head. She wasn't - prepared for this. For blood? For potentially being eaten? Yes. For gentle fucking? No.

 

No, Yoshimura Eto was not anticipating this. This is almost -

 

_Too much._

 

His next thrust hits her with a tidal wave of uncertainty. It's such a stupid thing, but suddenly she doesn't know what to _do_. Where to put her hands. How to be an alpha. How to be an alpha when it doesn't involve being thrown around like a rag doll or snarled into submission. This is out of her depth of understanding. It's irrational, to feel like a shy virgin after such vigorous and intense sex, but that's what Eto's brain has decided she should feel like.

 

This isn't - how she wanted this to be. It was supposed to be the demand and take and starvation of heat, and then using the ensuing guilt and bond to manipulate him without ever truly involving herself in the process. Eto had always been removed from the plot, in every move she has ever made. Eto has always been the narration itself, never one of the variables filling her page. So this - this kissing and touching and gentle sex leaves her treading, water a thousand feet above her head.

 

She feels, with perfect clarity, the danger of drowning in him.

 

Before the growing irrational need to ruin things for herself rises too high, he lifts his hand from her throat and sits back, fully enthroned on her cock. She gasps for breath, only finding more and more of him to breathe in. The sudden release has her cumming abruptly, leaves her eyes watering from - from all sorts of intensities and emotions.

 

When she manages to come back down, Kaneki is waiting for her. The strange, heavy silence and tension bleeds out between them in the dark. His hand rests over his belly, over the healthy curve she's fucked into him. A new fear rises in Eto, watching the way his fingertips measure the fertile swell there. That's - certainly enough. Already so full of her, his heat so close to sated - he has every right to end her now that she's completed her objective by him. It's common enough to be a threat - to be eaten.

 

She feels like a hagfish - like a useless lump of dick to a sharptoothed predator, consuming her being without eating her flesh. It's almost a good feeling. The primordial alpha drive to _fuck and fill and feed_ pushes all else out of her spinning head. It's calmer, somehow, to be reminded of her place here. There's no uncertainty in the black depths of the ocean. This is biology. Kaneki's heat is nearing satisfaction: an alpha is only needed for heat; Eto wants to survive him, therefore she must make her presence worthwhile.

 

That - puts things back in the neat box marked Heat. She swallows all her stupid feelings and lets her vision click back into place. This, Eto understands. That narrowed consideration in his satisfied gaze, the way he's kept her trapped beneath him, inside him, swallowing every drop she has to give, that proud hold on his swollen belly - he's full, full, full. _What use is Eto now? Why should she be kept alive, draining his resources and dragging him down with alpha weakness? Having already given him all her strength to nurse in his womb, what use is left of an alpha?_ This, _this_ is territory she knows how to navigate. This breathless junction between life and death and domination is where Eto knows how to thrive.

 

Here is an alpha's use to a pregnant omega: she thrusts up sharply, squeezing his hips tightly, and releases her kagune. Pressing him on his back involves shoving her kagune in between his teeth and wrapping it all around his limbs, though his clawed hand tears into her easily. The growl he lets up is less _stop on pain of death_ and more _this better be good_ , so she powers through the haze, although the initial freeze lost her a few feet of kagune to his teeth. She replaces the tendril with a bit of meat her other kagune have dragged in from the closet. His eyes widen, honest shock clearing them for a moment, before he bites into it, relaxing into the nest. Accepting her offering. Allowing her a pleading audience with him.

 

She pleas with her tongue, with her cock, with her hands, on her knees, in the dark.

 

* * *

 

The final day of his heat edges into the surreal.

 

Eto can tell something is different the moment she raises her head - somewhat shakily, the faint buzz of rut working to unclamp the sore muscles of her overworked mouth, the crook in her neck, slowly enough that it still bothers her - and finds Kaneki not watching her. He's been keeping a sharp eye on her from that first moment in the arena, watching over her, lording over her, ensuring her good behavior, but now -

 

His eyes are closed tight, expression a little pinched. Hands smoothing restlessly against the nest. An absent, discomforted motion.

 

Eto rises up, leans closer. Waits.

 

After a few moments he lets out a deep breath and looks up at her. The expression on his face is totally new - an exhausted, open look full of confusion. Eyes a bit glassy, not quite focused enough, but more clearly seeing her than before. Like he's waking up.

 

Eto waits as he shifts in a small stretch beneath her, sighing again as his eyes flutter closed. The position of her arm as she holds herself above him blocks his hand, bumping weakly against her wrist as he reaches up. She moves, giving him that space, rebalancing her weight in the uneven nest. Watches with delight as his hand finds his lower belly, pressing in against the swollen curve like it aches. Or feels good.

 

"What..." Kaneki tries, his voice a rough, weak sigh of sound. Eto jolts, a bit startled. That's -

 

He should be decently incoherent through the active stretch of his heat. Totally lost to instinct, unable to focus on trivial, human niceties like speech and remembering that refractory periods exist. That line has been followed to the letter so far. The scent of heat is still so thick on him, still pouring out hormones and demanding Eto's obedience, Eto's cock, Eto's offspring. Kaneki is shifting in the nest, not quite like he's uncomfortable, but a little unsettled, like his body is still firmly in heat, but his mind is clearing, leaving him a haze of confusion and lust to sort through. Just coherent enough to recognize that something is happening, but hopefully not enough to do anything about it.

 

He's looking up at her again, his expression morphing between genuine confusion and a more thoughtless relaxation. There is no recognition there, thankfully. Eto isn't currently equipped to handle that revelation. Shouldn't have to be for another day, at the least. _Hopefully._

 

So she reaches out, cups the side of his face gently in distraction. It seems to have been the correct choice, because he turns into the touch, takes in a deep breath of her scent. Settles a bit more, eyes drifting closed in a more relaxed expression.

 

"That's it," Eto breathes back, "Just relax. I'll take care of this."

 

His hand curls over hers, holding her against his mouth as he turns more fully into her offered touch.

 

"Something is..." He murmurs against her palm, his voice a little clearer, less weak, less of a rasp in the dark. "I'm...I need -"

 

Kaneki's mouth opens, soft, soft, _soft_ against the meat of her palm. Eto doesn't breathe as she carefully eases it away before he can bite down. Slow enough not to seem like a rejection, like a refusal. It still gets her a tiny moan in response, a crinkle of confusion creasing his brows. She _has_ done nothing but enable him so far. Well. Not like she'll do anything but spoil him from on, anyway.

 

Eto hushes him, leaning in close to nuzzle the scars on his throat. Feels the way he goes completely boneless under her at that.

 

She only pulls away when her kagune has snagged on some flesh to tug forward. Moves back to give him room to eat. Moves back a little farther. A little more. Closer to the stash of food -

 

He pauses. Eto freezes. But he only looks over at her, more confused than dismissing her attempted mutiny. Maybe this is a good opportunity. Eto takes it - reaches out slowly to pick up some meat. Keeps eye contact while she bites into it. Kaneki makes a noise at her, but the alarming clarity edging in makes him waver. Hesitate. Finally, he returns to his own meal, leaving Eto unpunished.

 

 _Oh, thank all the eyes in the world._ She eats quickly, not trusting his giving mood to last considering the defensive attack he'd leveled at her last time she'd eaten some of his tithe. At least she's fully healed from it. _Whatever_. It's a trade off she can deal with.

 

Once she finishes, feeling significantly better, she turns to find Kaneki still kneeling beside the nest, facing away from her.

 

She moves to get closer, but instead watches with rapt attention as his hands move slowly over his throat, over her mark, over the bright markings, in the dark.

 

They've finished spreading now, she thinks: it's an impressive coverage, spanning down from his omegan mask, all around his throat in a pretty pattern, flows over his shoulders, down his sides, curls around his kakuhou and up his back where the auxiliary kakuhou he's gained are, stops, finally, around his thighs. A little messy on his left shoulder, where the huge mark she's given him is. Mostly symmetrical, save for that lovely interruption and the larger patch around his once misshealed arm. That's healed well, now. Healthy flesh has overtaken the protective scaling, although the hand that is tracing his side is still darkened at the fingertips, still clawed.

 

His sides pillow a little between his fingers. Although he still isn't quite at the level of the average omega, he looks a little better now. Figure fuller, sturdier, a thickening blanket pulled over his firm muscle to soften his harsh edges up a bit. Softer, more comfortable, but still not quite where he should have been before his heat. Still, Eto enjoys the view.

 

Eto makes a good deal of noise as she comes closer. Just because his kagune is still dormant and his heat mostly sated doesn't mean she gets to be stupid. But now she's curious. He seems - coherent. At least a little. Able to react more thoughtfully, capable of speech, smoothing his hands over all the new markings on his body, noticing things that aren't Eto's dick.

 

She's a bit thankful for that. Her rut is still up, but fading out now, and she could go for some not absurd amounts of sex right about now, although she feels better able to handle the remainder of his heat, knowing the end is near.

 

She kneels down beside him, a good few inches away, rapt. Kaneki doesn't seem to notice her at first, preoccupied with the changes to his body. What does he think, Eto wonders, watching, watching. Is he proud of this, as any other omega, any other ghoul would be? Taking satisfaction from the physical proof of his power, of the light of pure, concentrated RC burning new veins in his skin? Any omega would be proud of their hardwon, fuller, fatter figure. A thin omega is one held back by a weak domain, without a strong harem to support them, without a loyal kingdom to keep them fed. It's a mark of pride, to be strong enough to keep fat when their only prey is the most dangerous game. Or even more impressive, although equally threatening, through cannibalism.

 

Or is Kaneki Ken just too human for that? Maybe he sees these beautiful markings as strange and unwanted things. Stigmata plucking him from the crowd and setting him apart. Most humans prize thinness in themselves, conformity in themselves, and Kaneki had been pretty well starved. Had an impressive musculature, which he must have worked hard for. Well, it wasn't like muscle dissipated just because it couldn't be seen as easily. He was still incredibly strong and well trained, just a bit more - well, Eto can admit she's a little shallow when it comes to aesthetics, and she's been playing the role of the stereotypical alpha for a long time now - more attractive.

 

Eto watches, helpless to do anything else, just watches, _watches_ , as his absently questing hands finally find his belly. No marks there, save for two little lines that curl up from between his legs and end, just barely, up the curve of his stomach. A few come close from his sides, but turn into the same pattern from his throat, framing his rounded middle with tiny waves and scales. It looks good on him, that fertile shape.

 

It's - it's so _good_ , it sets her purring, to know, with her whole being, that _Eto_ is the one who did this. Who cultivated his power, helped him blossom, filled him up. Her mate. Her omega.

 

_Her king._

 

Eto likes power. Eto _likes_ power. This way, omegan, glowing, fatter, rounder - Kaneki is an emblem of ghoul power.

 

And how - her heart races - will he take that? Being such an incredibly strong _ghoul_?

 

Mated to a strong ghoul?

 

_Brewing an even stronger ghoul in his womb?_

 

Okay, maybe she is up for more sex.

 

Her insistent purring catches his attention like a bright minnow momentarily catching the eye of a shark, and she finishes edging into his space before he can dismiss her. Lays one hand on his full thigh, feels the softness pulled over the edges of well defined muscle, and presses in close. Goes for his mark, his face, whatever she can reach.

 

His breath catches and he pulls away sharply before she can so much as nuzzle. Eto freezes, purr cutting out.

 

She - forgot. He's something like awake, now.

 

Kaneki reacts slowly to her obedient stillness, turning back to meet her without coming any closer, without shaking off her hand on him. Without taking his hand off his belly. His look is full of confusion, dazed and half-heated, but he meets her eyes easily enough. Scans her face in the dark - lit up only by his marks, so close. A familiar meeting between them. Brief light in the dark of the night, two powerful ghouls with their own agendas, but the thick scent of the fluid drawn between them is from their sex, not blood.

 

This time, instead of taking flesh from him, Eto has given it. This time, instead of rushing toward an end like death, they are working - have worked - is working, even now, as he breathes and waits and holds his swollen stomach lightly - toward new life.

 

_Once again, he's full of Eto._

 

His eyes go wide.

 

"You -" He starts, haltingly, half there and half gone. And then, in the tense silence, a whisper: "Takatsuki... Sen?"

 

 _Oh, fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well look who has a tiny unsatisfying chapter update (its me)  
> i feed u like pidgeons. breadcrumbs. breadcrumsf. breadkmnfs.  
> jaws theme plays


End file.
